The sun even shone yesterday … for an hour or two … which finally brought Fair crowds back to their somewhat normal size. It was busy yesterday and though I got little time to hang out with my friends, it was nice to see them making money and doing what they came there for.

So did I. I had a great time just relaxing and totally ignoring the Fair. I have crossed that magic line between Fairgoer and being a part of the Fair. I have ditched the shoes and most other conventional means by which I can be identified as a professional or even an adult. I like it.

But before I completely let go of all contact with reality, I have question for my conservative right wing flag raising uber patriotic readers. What is the proper etiquette for when you are driving your car and you hear the National Anthem?

As I approached the gate to enter the Fair yesterday, I was second in line of a line of cars waiting to get in and get to work. Suddenly, as they do every day at 10:00, the Fairgrounds blasts an instrumental version of our National Anthem (extra credit if you can name that tune). The car in front of me doesn’t move. The song continues, the security personnel are all standing at near attention. But, the car in front of me does not move. He does not move, so I cannot move and neither can the vehicles behind me move. Nobody can move because the car in front of me isn’t moving. So, I give a gentle honk.

National Anthem or not; move your ass over to the side buddy and let the rest of us go about our lives. The honk had him halfway out of his car but security pushed him back in. I am sitting there caught between dumbfounded and laughing my ass off. When the song ended, Mister SuperAmerican put his baseball cap back on and drove off. So did I.

I have nothing against patriotism and respect my nation and Her values. But unlike the patriot in front of me, I have a life as well. I have no objection to him respecting the anthem by sitting on his fat ass inside his car and staring forward out the window. Was it really necessary for him to inconvenience the rest of us? Why didn’t he get out of his car to stand to show respect. Everybody else stands for the anthem … just not Mister “I am more important than you” Patriot. As we drove into the Fairgrounds, I have him my own version of the MarkBlum salute and went my own way.

Speaking of salutes: I know full well that at the Fairgrounds during the run of the Fair, I am not dressed in a business suit and tie. It does not escape me that I am not acting like a “Professional” when I am at the Fair (unless called upon for professional services). Apparently that seems to trouble some of my colleagues. Folks I talk to in court all the time, judges in front whom I appear all the time, and lawyers who are both friends and foes have all shown me one common behavior pattern at the Fair. They pretend to either not know me or pretend to not see me. The same folks who greet me with smiles and exchanges of pleasantries while I am attired in my work clothes completely ignore me in my Fair clothes.

Yesterday at different times, three local Judges walked by me, made eye contact with me, and one was standing right next to me. All three acted as though they did not see me. I even threw one a salute and he just glared. I should tell my lawyer and judge friends that hiding behind the ratty Fair clothes, bare feet, and dark sunglasses are eyes that are studying everything going on around me. You send me a loud and clear message when you ignore me socially and only greet me professionally. My words and my acts at the Fair do nothing that brings shame or disrespect to my profession. If anything, it shows that lawyers are people too. It erases the mystery. I have had so many conversations about lawyers and the law because of that shirt and how I am dressed. To some of my colleagues, having fun, being relaxed, and letting go of social constraints is a big no-no. As for me, I intend to enjoy the rest of my life and those who want to be a part of it are welcome and those who don’t, I am sorry.

Note to self: If you weigh over 300 lbs, do not wear baggy white pants with big black splotches on them. You look like a walking cow.

Lastly for this posting, I had the chance to wander about the Indian Village yesterday and paid close attention to the displays and conversations going on around me. It was a real first because that part of the Fairgrounds tends to be quiet and mostly ignored by crowds. There were great displays and some brief history of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederation. I did engage in some lively discussion about the Tuscarora and Seneca tribes being enemies of the Revolution and how they joined the British and ended the Confedereration.

Each of the Six Nations has a separate building and display. Over the entrance of the buildings are signs that advise which Nation is showing inside. One of the buildings had a sign that identified it as being the “Patterson Building”. I must have asked a near dozen people if they heard of the Pattersons as being the lost Seventh Tribe of the Six Nation Iroquois Confederation. (I guess you had to be there).

Thursday is going to be a zoo at the Fair and I am going to try and find the center ring. See ya there.