What, And Give Up Showbiz?

As I plan out my week, I try to think of some sort of cultural thing I can do, something to see or to do or to learn that will edify me, make me a better person. So this week I got to thinking about things I haven't done in a long while, and it hit me.
   I should go to a crooked carnival.
   I love carnivals and midways, the crookeder the better. I love the smell of popcorn and candied apples, hearing the sound of carnies trying to lure marks to their rigged games of chance, watching the looks of panic on people's faces as they ride the rickety rollercoasters. It's the best ever. My favorite is the Midway at the Texas State Fair. I got the idea for the Puercodrome by watching the pig races there.
   See, the thing is, you can't go into a carnival expecting that you're going to win anything or come out ahead by any measure. Sure, the people running these things may not have a Harvard MBA, but they've been running the con longer than you've been doing whatever it is you do, so they're pretty good at it. And this is not the same as the midway games at Magic Mountain, carnies make their living by fleecing suckers of their money (yes, I mean you), and to them it's all business, not a way to kill time between semesters at junior college.
   Oooh! New idea! Maybe I'll start my own crooked carnival. Yeah, that's the ticket... See, what I'll do is get a bunch of investors, and promise them a ridiculous rate of return. I'll then get new investors and pay the first ones off with the money I get from the next group. Then I'll get a third group to pay off the fourth group... I can't see how this could possibly fail