Foot traffic unfair at county fair grounds

Take a step away, relax and have fun. That is the idea of having a county fair.

But the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona is a hard place to do that. There is not a walkway where you are not shoulder to shoulder with strangers.

Granted, it was Saturday afternoon, when the fair is at its busiest. More people hit the fair grounds on weekends of course, and it was my bad luck that I only had a Saturday off work.

As I walked through the grounds people stopped in front of me, blocking foot traffic for the rest of the thousands of people trying to experience the hoedown.

It amazes me that people can be so inconsiderate. OK, maybe they got lost or can't find what they are looking for. But to stop in the center of a walkway and simply gawk at something while up to 60 people are trying to pass in either direction is downright rude.

Even on the California highway systems people have better manners. Slower traffic moves to the right so others can pass. With the exception of those broken-down, most drivers move out of the way. I know the people at the fair are able to move but don't bother to make room for others.

To make matters worse, many of these people bring small children, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but these people were dragging them in a four-wheel drive wagon and blocking up even more space.

What ever happened to the times when a county fair was about celebrating the diversity of a county? When people came to see the biggest pig in the livestock competitions, and the biggest pig in the pie-eating contest.

Now, just getting into the fair costs $10. If you take a date, as most people do, it's $20 just to get into the gates, not to mention food, games, candy and beer. A day of enjoyment at the fair can easily cost $150-200. Ray Carmack Shows, the company that provides the rides and operators in the carnival area, has got to be making money hand over fist.

At least this grand event only comes once a year. And every year the fair gets more crowded and more people end up on my nerves.

Ken Hanson is the opinion editor for the Daily Forty-Niner