OSH '05 Comments

Not responding to any one post.........

There were times I wondered whether some of the scooter people were just
lazy but I just had to remind myself that I wouldn't be qualified to
judge the extent of their maladies anyway, and settle for being glad
that I didn't need one. I can't honestly say that we personally had a
close call with a scooter. But when the day comes that I can't walk
mile after mile, I hope that I have the option to use one to see my last
couple of Airventures. (And I hope that's 40 years from now.)

Some of the four wheeled Gator/golf cart/whatever vehicles were another
matter. Not that I qualify for special treatment, but my seven year old
is hearing impaired - requires extra vigilance when mixing with traffic.
Seems to me that seven years old = has the attention span of an Irish
Setter, but maybe that's just my kids. And having those damn things
zipping on and off of the roads at any and every point imaginable, while
expecting the mere pedestrians to part like Moses was coming through,
startled me a few times. I'm half afraid that one of us will get run
over and half afraid that I'll punch somebody. I saw plenty of safe and
courteous drivers but there were way too many fools. I can't help but
wonder if a lot of the vendors wouldn't think twice about running down
the pedestrians if every vendor cart was required to have a large logo
identifying the company operating it. Maybe not, 'How's my driving? -
call 1 800 xxx xxxx' hasn't exactly been a roaring success.

As for the various comments about the dairy industry and the fast food
industry, does anyone really think they are to blame for the menu
choices? Honestly?? You don't think that the food service industry
would step up if they could make a buck selling healthy food? Sorry,
but I think they would replace every bacon cheeseburger in America with
tofu salads or heroin milkshakes (if heroin was legal) in about 30 days
if that's what people were spending their cash for. Their job is to
produce goods and services at a profit and our job is to reward them for
doing it to our liking. We as a country could fix this if we wanted to.

This is my third year in a row at Osh and the second time I've had a
department store tent fail me. Never again. My 'C' brand tent with its
'guarantee' to keep me dry is going to a yard sale and I don't care if
it sells for 75 cents. It isn't worth the closet space it would
otherwise take up. I am very interested in any brands of tent that
anyone could recommend. Because if I do this again I intend to stay dry
somehow. I did notice that some of the manufacturers make rain flys
that will keep water out as long as the tent is standing. I gotta get
me one of those!

All in all that was a fantastic show and it's amazing that they can put
something like that together with volunteer labor. Thanks to each and
every one of you sunburned people who made it happen.

Tom McQuinn