Day 22

Day 22, also known as Scarborough Fair Day, proved to be a lot of fun. Unlike other fairs I've been to, there are so many ways to be entertained that don't require spending money. My friends and I met at a diner first thing in the morning for breakfast. They had seen it on the Food Network, showcasing their famous cinnamon roll, and we all agreed it was a good way to start out the day. We split the cinnamon roll into thirds and pretended to be food critics for a minute or so. I was also able to get some early morning bartering accomplished, trading with my friend some headphones and a loan of some free weights she needed for a bag of a few rolls of toilet paper and some food stuffs.

They were kind enough to cover my meal so I offered to drive the rest of the way to the fair. We listened to bagpipe music on the way there, and they didn't seem to mind that I would periodically slip into singing the "are you going to Scarborough Fair" song. Later that day, I altered the lyrics to "yes were going, were already there...". My friends put up with a lot. Even though we've been going for 7 years now, it seemed a lot closer this year for some reason, and I was happy when I realized I wouldn't need to ask for any gas.

When we got there, I began trying to barter the extra tickets for the promise of some food or drink upon entry. I had approached a few people, but they were very skeptical of me and were not interested at all. I thought at a renaissance festival everyone would be open to the idea of bartering, but this was not the case. Starting a conversation with "I promise I'm not crazy, but I want to give you these tickets in exchange for some food..." was not the way to go. In fact, it turns out that starting any conversation with "I promise I'm not crazy" usually makes the person think you're crazy.

I was in the middle of explaining my project to two bewildered fair goers when my friends showed up to save me. They were with a gentleman who was dressed up like a member of the royal court. He introduced himself as Sir Henry and said something along the lines of "I understand you are trading your extra tickets for food, I want you to have a good time while at the fair...so please take this..." he pulled out a $10 bill and handed it to me. I looked at my friends, Sir Henry, and the two fair goers. I handed the bill back to Sir Henry and politely explained that I appreciated the gesture, but I couldn't spend my money or his money.
He looked confused at first, but after I told him about my project he caught on to the whole thing really quickly. He offered up this solution: I should give my two spare tickets to the fair goers, and because they will then have a good time at the fair and spend money, ultimately supporting Sir Henry himself, he would in turn buy me some food or drink in appreciation once inside the gates. I felt a little embarrassed having five people working to make sure I was able to trade the tickets (also, I was in a forest fairy costume), but I agreed that this was a good plan and so I handed the tickets over...and we all followed Sir Henry into the fair.