Selah // Something Witty

You talking double.

Date: 03.09.17 -- Day 29 (Day 9 of the 30-Day Blogging Challenge - March Edition)
Music: "Moneygrabber" / Fitz and the Tantrums

Prompt: Wildcard Round! - Tell us about a time when something that has basically always been a detriment to you turned out to be really useful.

This prompt was a difficult one to write one as I'm not sure if I've had a moment or situation where this has worked. Most of my detriments have remained just that - detriments. But there are a couple of moments where I've been lucky, so I'm going to paint a picture of one of the few times I survived the county fair.

Most of my childhood involved moving around a bunch. Economics, divorce, and family illness all led to interesting moving arrangements. However, I was lucky enough stay in the same state, California, which is huge but keeps things tidy. I lived in southern California for the first seven years, particularly in a region that wasn't well known for county fairs, so when it made to our neck of the woods, it was an exciting time. When I was five, my god-sister was visiting from the Bay Area simultaneously when the county fair was in town; going was a done deal. Rides, games, fried food, crowds - joy by all. Well, kind of.

Crowds were not, and are not, something I handle well. There are too many things going on, so much stimuli, that I immediately become a pillar of dread. However, this detriment was not my saving grace this time around, although it was helped. The detriment that came to my rescue was my inability to not be clumsy. One of best descriptions of myself is the fact I can trip over my own two feet on level ground. Constantly. At least once a day. And this night was no different.

It was the last night in the fair was in our county before it moved on. The air was cool and crisp as the sun had just disappeared below the horizon. This was a treat as the fairgrounds were packed. Luckily, short stack, 5-year old me was wearing my neon blue and pink jacket to keep the wind at bay. The first few moments were fun as I took in all the blinking lights and cotton candy scents. This was my first huge fair and the excitement was contagious. I was sandwiched in between my brothers and trying to keep up with their quick steps as we made it to the first ride. However, the joy left the moment we finished the carousel. I was getting bumped left and right by the other fair-goers, could barely hear anything through all the noises, and I could barely keep up with my family. So in that fear of getting lost and semi-running to keep them in sight, I inevitably tripped over my shoelaces, falling to my knees. This was a gift in disguise as the two people behind me was a gentleman who had at some point had a few drinks, a few chili dogs, and what could only be described as some bright blue sweet, had taken an ill-advised turn on the tilt-a-whirl. After stepping off the ride, he must had felt sick to his stomach because he promptly projectile vomited over my head from where I had tripped, barely missing me on the ground recovering from my fall. My family had noticed my absence, scurried back to find me, and had seen my stroke of luck. It was something.

I was a bit traumatized. To keep me in sight and my luck rolling, I spent the rest of the trip either on one of my brother's shoulders or clutching my mother's hand. Everything was kind of tinged after that near hit. It's hard to have fun after I realized what could have happened. I just had this facial expression of near-wonder, eyes big, few words, little trust. Really wasn't a fan of crowds after that experience and remain distrustful. But at least my clumsiness came to my rescue when I needed it the most.