Capitalist Mindset No. 5—Fair 4-Hing Then & Now

So call me naïve! A friend was describing the experience of a young person in her family showing a pie at the fair this year, recounting the questions the judge asked.

“You mean the judge was there when she dropped it off?” I asked.

“You have to be there to answer questions during the judging.”

“What ever for?”

“So they know for sure the kid did it! S/he must answer questions on the procedure.”

Said friend went on to describe her grandmother making a pillow, giving it to her mother and telling her that was what she was taking to the fair.

“GOD!” I said, “How can a parent teach a kid morals, fairness, etc. doing that?”

She shrugged and said that's why kids have to appear with their projects now.

The conversation threw the critical eye back 4-H in the mid-50s. The week before the fair, we freaked, behind deadline on pillows, pies, picture frames, and record books, pleading with Mom to do at least the difficult partsand “I am not going to finish on time!”

“Well, you should have thought of that the last two weeks you been lolling around reading.”

We would have won more blue ribbons, especially on sewing projects, if Mom hadn't been an old socialist who believed that doing/learning were preferable to winning. Unfortunately, the capitalist mindset has permanently changed not only fair judging.