I think it was 1983, but it could have been ’82. I was dating this guy named Tim, who was my manager at the Quincy’s where I slaved away for minimum wage.
We were an odd couple, as most of my affairs are, with him being very sweet and me being the firecracker that I was back then. This was even before the red hair, remember! I drove my fabulous fuel injected 1979 VW Bug, convertible
and I went to High School and I worked nights at Quincy’s and generally hung out with older people who taught me how to party!
Anyway, Tim and I went to the Tennessee Valley Fair that fall. It was still warm and the fair was as big and fun as ever.
I’ve always loved fairs, carnivals, Six Flags, whatever. I don’t go to them much any more, but I used to go to the Fair every year when I lived in Knoxville. So, in that vein, I drug Tim to the Fair at the huge fairgrounds in East Knoxville.
We go around, playing the rigged games and riding the tamer rides like the Haunted Mansion and the Ferris Wheel and the Tilt a Whirl. They’d already stopped having the hella fun Double Ferris Wheel (that I learned was called the Sky Wheel) but there were still some cool rides that you don’t see any more.
Tim wasn’t the most adventurous type and he really didn’t care for scary rides like the Zipper or the RoundUp or or the various roller coasters. Well, I saw this ride that looked fairly tame, sort of like a ferris wheel, but with little cars for 2 passengers each that could spin on their own while they go around on the big wheel. (I’ve since tracked it down and it’s called the Skydiver. It’s a specialty ride that is not in service any more, but lemme tell ya, IT’S FUN! Here’s a pic and description.) We go up and get into the small car and they lock us in. There are small metal wheels in front of us that look like steering wheels, but are actually SPINNING wheels. Once you got the car to rock, you could yank on these wheels to make the car start to spin on its axis – while you go round and round the Ferris wheel!
When I realized that our disparate weights would make that car spin like a dervish, I started yanking the hell out of the wheel to make it spin more. Tim was good with this until the whole thing started to go round. So, here we are spinning like mad as well as going round. Then it happened: Tim starts to scream like a little girl!! Well, being the evil girl that I am, I began to laugh my ass off and spin the damn thing faster. I was yelling FASTER! at the operator every time we went by and he really cranked it up. That fucker was FLYING! So I was yelling FASTER! and Tim was yelling STOP! STOP! every time we passed the operator!
God I’ve never laughed so hard in my life (while straight, anyway). I was sobbing with laughter as we spun around in our car and whizzed around the Ferris wheel. I was cackling with glee and Tim was bellowing like a lost calf! It was truly a highlight of my youth.
The operator finally had to slow us down and start letting people off the ride and when we had to get off the ride, I thanked the operator profusely as Tim stomped away embarrassed. My face hurt the next day and my throat was sore from all the laughter. Now, that is what I call FUN!
I’d like to publicly thank Tim, who is a really nice guy and after getting calmed down, he was a good sport about my torturing him and I’ve never forgotten the fun of that night.
Thanks, Tim. You were a part of a very good memory. (7.18.23: I just found out that Tim died in Feb this year. RIP Tim!)
