people at the track

Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes the main act isn't the most intriguing, and you find yourself enthralled by a sideshow. One example might be Hinder opening for Nickelback. Is there no justice in the world? Another example could easily be my day spent at Saratoga Race Track.

People go to horse races for two reasons. First, to watch horses run fast, and second, to bet on which horse they believe can run faster than all the others (for some people the order is swapped). I found myself watching people.

The Capitalist. Saratoga offers free parking. Free parking fills up faster than a thoroughbred can run the track. This leaves many gamblers in need of some parking space, say, like in the backyard of the homes nearby. Of course there is a fee. $5 was the lowest I saw; not a bad profit for 20 cars squeezed onto the lawn each day for the five weeks Saratoga is in operation yearly. I can't blame these homeowners. If a race course opened next to my house I'd welcome the extra cash too.

The Wit. My family has had a watermelon sitting in our kitchen for a long, long time. Wishing to use it at last, we decided to bring it along to the track. Saratoga, unlike many venues, let in coolers, Subway's, dozen-boxes of donuts, and they let in watermelons. While I am not certain which melon variety they are most used to seeing, it was clearly an uncommon sight to see a handsome 17-year old boy (much like myself) carrying a giant watermelon cradled in his arms. When the man who sold us our tickets jested about charging admission for the "infant", I quickly changed to a more masculine, over-the-shoulder melon moving method. Later, as we looked for a spot in the bleachers, another man, too self assured in his humor, could not resist a wise-crack of his own. "Hey does anyone have a watermelon I could borrow?" he announced to giggles of those nearby. I pretended I didn't hear him. Can a boy not carry his melon in peace?

The Friendly. Always my favorite stranger, the friendly knows the fine line between being outgoing and being obnoxious (see: The Wit). Today's shining example was sitting directly behind us. First, he offered my brothers and I each a bag of chips and a can of soda. He and his friends had brought too much food that he didn't want to bring home, and free food truly is the way to one's heart. We chatted for a while: where we're from, the horse race, money made betting, money lost betting, and so on and so forth. This man had no reason to give away any of his food or to acknowledge anyone else's existence. In fact, with the whole world seemingly atwitter, it seems rare enough to see this sort of outreach. And for that, I commend him. I only wish his horse pick's hadn't lost him so much money.

And those are this evening's personality picks. That was sort of fun, I may have to do this again some time. Now for the curious topic: did I make money?

I'd really rather not talk about it.