The combination of funnel cake, onion rings, pop corn, cotton candy, black concrete, rumbling steel, old vinyl, pop music, blinking lights, screaming, laughing, crying, all make up the heavy air of the carnival. It’s cheap, nauseating, and American. Break two plates with a baseball and win Scooby Doo. Flip a plastic frog into the center of the lily pad and win a frog. Toss a ping pong ball into a fish bowl and win a fish.

Why do I love the bumper car? Is it because the bumper car is one of the few rides where the riders interact with each other? In line - waiting for the bumper cars to stop dead - watching electric blue lines spark from the grated metal ceiling to the curled strips of metal held by poles attached to the back of each bumper car - the cars stop - the people get out and walk to the back - to the exit - the attendant lets the next wave of drivers through the gate - we seek our own car - red, blue, green, yellow – jump inside - the large vinyl cushion turns along with the steering wheel back and forth - waiting for the electricity to be switched back on so we can crash into each other for another five minutes.