ebonypearl | Niceness at Muskogee

We went to Muskogee Fair on Sunday. I was particularly on the lookout for niceness. Fairs are generally good for that and Muskogee is a small enough Fair that I knew most of the visitors there would be reasonably localish people - from within 200 miles, with enough travelers from beyond that region to make it a good sampling.

I was not disappointed.

There were many acts of kindness and niceness. The exceptions were few and far between - and were aimed mostly at children by parents who were hot, tired, and stressed out.

It was a hot day. The temperatures were in excess of 95ºF with very little wind. Some of the stages had no shade at all during the hottest part of the day so paper parasols and fans were essential accessories.

Knowing the day would be sunny and hot, we came prepared with our own paper parasols, bottles to fill with water, sunscreen, and fans. We also knew which vendors were selling fans, parasols, sunscreen, and ice and didn't hesitate to share that information with those who looked like they needed it.

Next time, we're also equipping ourselves with those cooling bandannas.

In spite of the heat, tempers rarely flared. The performances were a bit flat because the performers were just too hot to give it their best, but the audiences were kind - and generous.

The beverage stand employees would give away cups of ice if they thought the people needed it since there were no water fountains.

Muskogee Fair still needs to find its balance between good performers and vendors. Some years it has really good performers but the vendors are few. Other years, it's heavy on vendors and light on performers. A couple of years, it was so light on food vendors that we actually left the site to find lunch.

But it looks good, and it looks like it will eventually find its balance.

I'm glad I found so many acts of kindness and so many people being nice to one another to counteract the negative media spin behavior has been getting recently.