12/11/2023 0 Comments Monster truck jam styleAgain, dozens run out, and 15 are selected. Some men come out and erect a ramp, and the MC announces that he needs 15 boys on the field. We don’t need no stinkin’ liability waivers! Nor any seatbelts, helmets, or other safety equipment.Īfter the Herbie show, motorcycles start zooming around. You can see them if you look closely at the picture. They cram into the Volkswagen, and take two, two-wheeled laps around the track. A few dozen kids charge the field and after some unknown sorting process, six are chosen. Then the MC calls for kids to come for a ride. They climb in with the driver, and go for a two-wheeled spin. Next he calls for two señoritas to come for a drive. Nothing new here, except that after the driver makes a couple of laps in his “Herbie the Love Bug”-inspired Volkswagen, the MC of the event calls for the bravest dad to come out and take a ride. We have all seen the “drive a car on two wheels” thing before, maybe at a circus, a car show or a county fair. Okay moms, the big differences are for you. He won a poster and a T-shirt for him and his dad. Anyhow, when all was said and done, the little boy was the winner as voted on by crowd applause. After that was done, the MC said to the parents, uncles and grandparents that what he was seeing performed by these children was not taught in school and asked where the kids had learned such moves. As the contest got down to the final four, the MC stopped everything and asked the four finalists to introduce themselves and indicate who had brought them that day. A little girl around 10 or 11, who was around 30 or 40 pounds overweight, started thrusting and “dirty dancing” by herself. A little boy, no more than 5, took off his shirt, started gyrating around and passing the shirt back and forth under his legs. While most of the kids just stood there or swayed back and forth a little bit, two standouts emerged. From the first sound of music, it was obvious to everyone who would win. This went on and on until one child on the contest. He would have the music play for 30 seconds, stop it, and eliminate a few kids. So, here we have around 30 kids, aged 5 to 11 or so and they are supposed to “sexy dance”. Once he had them there, he lined the girls up separate from the boys and announced the “sexy dance contest”. He ended up with around 18 boys, but he didn’t mind. After he got his 12 young girls, he asked for 12 young boys. At one rather long intermission (after motorcycles and before trucks), the MC asked for a dozen girls to come on down to the arena. There was an ugly dad contest, a mom with the most kids contest, that kind of thing. In between “acts”, the MC entertained the crowd in various ways. You can’t get to the restrooms, as the walkway into the area is packed with chairs. A shady area designed to hold 50 chairs at best is now holding over a hundred. They are not filling up but rather, they are disappearing! People entering the arena and not wanting to sit in the sun like us are stacking up chairs by the dozens and relocating them to the spot of their choice with absolutely no regard for space limitations or courtesies. As we sit for 45 minutes and watch things get set up, I start noticing all the empty white chairs in the sunny section of the arena. We decide to rough it in the sun in order to sit in front. As we enter the arena, there is little shade and there are no chairs available in what little shade there is. It is about 85 degrees F out and the humidity is about the same. The event was held at a “salon.” Sounds like something indoors, right? Monster trucks indoors? Well, we approached the entrance to what looked like a large building, gave over our tickets, and rather than walking into a building we emerged through the door into an open-air arena on the other side. Parking (on the street) was free, cold cervezas delivered to our seats were 20 pesos, and salchichas (sausages) were 35 pesos. The event cost 80 pesos, or around $6 US. Okay, so there is nothing new about a monster truck show, right? Well, despite my efforts to never write a blog post centered on “they sure do it differently down here,” I just cannot resist telling you that what happens at a Monster Truck Show here is inconceivable in the States.
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