It was a hot day at the amusement park, the kinda day where the air was thick with the smell of funnel cake and sweaty people. I was just takin a break from all the rides, watchin folks play the carnival games near the big ferris wheel. The music was loud and kinda tinny, and kids was screamin and laughin everywhere. It was a good vibe, mostly. I like to watch people. My grandpa, he used to say I got eyes like a hawk, always noticin the little things, like how the leaves on that oak tree over there look a little different than the ones on the maple, even if most folks don’t care.
Then this woman comes walkin by, kinda loud. She had on a real tight cheetah print top and those shiny leggings that catch the sun. She looked like she thought she was the best-lookin thing since sliced bread, but her clothes was a little snug in places, and her face had a kinda frown like she smelt somethin bad. She couldn’t have been much older than twenty, maybe twenty-one or twenty-two at the most. With her was a boy, a teenager, probably around twelve or thirteen. He was wearin a plain t-shirt and jeans, walkin a little behind her, lookin at his shoes mostly. He seemed a little shy, like he was used to just followin along.
They stopped at the ring toss game. This one was a tough one, where you had to get three rings on these little bottles to win a giant stuffed elephant. It cost ten bucks for just three tries, which is alot of money for a game like that. I watched as the boy pointed at the elephant, his eyes all lit up. The woman, the one in cheetah print, she just kinda waved her hand at the young guy runnin the game. He looked maybe seventeen, had a nametag that said “Mikey.” Mikey was tellin her the rules, how it worked, how much it cost.
The woman, she just put her hands on her hips and leaned in close to Mikey. I couldn’t hear every word, but her voice got louder. She was tellin him that her son was a real good kid, and he deserved to win that elephant. She said she shouldn’t have to pay full price, maybe he could get a discount or somethin for her. Mikey, he just shook his head, polite like, and said park rules was park rules, and the price was fixed. He said everyone paid the same amount. She scoffed, real loud, and flipped her hair back. I noticed then, just behind her ear, she had this tiny birthmark, shaped just like a little crescent moon, kinda neat how it was almost hid by her hair.
She started explainin to Mikey that she was a very important person, and she was used to gettin what she wanted. She went on about how pretty she was, and that usually meant people were happy to help her out. Mikey just blinked. He just kept sayin the price was ten dollars. She got red in the face then. She said he was bein rude and discriminatory. She wanted to talk to his manager right now. The boy, her son, he was standin there, lookin like he wanted the ground to just swallow him up whole. He looked at his mom, then at the game, then back at his shoes.
Mikey, bless his heart, he just nodded and picked up his little radio. He spoke into it quietly, askin for a supervisor to come to the ring toss. It took a few minutes. While we waited, the cheetah print lady kept huffin and puffin. She kept talkin loud, so everyone around could hear, about how this park was awful, and how she was gonna write a bad review and get Mikey fired. Her son kept shiftin his weight, lookin more and more uncomfortable. He kept tryin to tug on her arm, whisperin to her to just forget it, but she just shrugged him off.
Then this older fella showed up. He had on a dark blue park uniform, a name tag that said “Stan, Supervisor.” He looked like he’d been workin at amusement parks for about a hundred years. His face was calm, no surprise in his eyes. He musta seen a thousand people like this woman. Stan walked up, real slow and steady, like he wasn’t in a hurry at all. He asked the woman what the problem was. She started right in, her voice goin up a few notches, sayin Mikey was bein disrespectful and wouldn’t let her son play for free or at a special rate. She used big words, talkin about “equity” and “customer satisfaction” and how she was “due a courtesy” because of who she was.
Stan just stood there, hands clasped behind his back. He listened to her whole speech without sayin a word, his face not changin expression at all. When she finally ran out of breath, he just spoke real calm. He said, “Ma’am, the price for the game is ten dollars. Those are the park rules. There are no discounts or special rates for anyone, no matter who they are.” He said it real even, like he was talkin about the weather.
She did not like that one bit. Her eyes got wide, and she started puffin her chest out. She said he was bein just as bad as Mikey. She said she was gonna just let her son play then, without payin, because they were bein so unfair. She actually reached out and tried to push her son forward, toward the game counter where the rings were. But Stan, he didn’t move. He just stood there, still and firm, blockin the way with his body. He didn’t touch her or the kid, just stood like a wall. He just looked at her. “Ma’am,” he said, still real calm, “attempting to use park attractions without payment is against park policy and is considered theft of services. If you try to do that, I’ll have to ask you to leave the park.”
She gasped, like he had slapped her. She started yellin about how dare he, and she was gonna call the police on him! Right then, her phone started blastin this really annoying, high-pitched ringtone, sounded like a cartoon chipmunk. She fumbled for it, pullin it out of her tight leggings, and put it to her ear. She started screamin into the phone at whoever was on the other end, somethin about bein late and traffic. It was so loud, everyone could hear her whole conversation. Her face was bright red, and she kept glarin at Stan, even while she was yellin into her phone.
When she finally hung up, she looked back at Stan. Her face was still mad, but somethin had changed in her eyes, like maybe she knew she was stuck. Stan hadn’t moved an inch. He just looked at her, waitin. She opened her mouth to say somethin else, but then she caught sight of her son. The boy had his head down, shoulders all slumped, lookin so small. He was just standin there, wishin he was anywhere else. He just wanted to play that game, and now his mom had made a huge scene. She looked from Stan, to the game, to her son. She huffed one last time, real loud, and then she grabbed her son by the arm. “Come on!” she snapped at him, yankin him away from the game. “We’re leavin this stupid place! I can’t believe how rude everyone is here!”
She practically dragged the boy away, through the crowd, still muttering under her breath about how she was treated. Stan just watched them go. Mikey slowly went back to his post, lookin a little shaken, but grateful. The amusement park music kicked back in, and the sounds of laughter started up again. The boy, as he was bein pulled away, just looked back once, over his shoulder, at the giant stuffed elephant. He looked so sad, like he was the one who had done somethin wrong. I felt bad for him. He never got to try for his elephant, and all he got was a big dose of embarrassment from his mom.
