I was not surprised to learn some years ago that the Minnesota State Fair is the second largest in the United States. Texas takes the bow as having the largest. The second biggest is big enough for me though, and I love going to it. There are great exhibits, fun food, rides and attractions, great food, farm animal contests, interesting food, live entertainment, and oh my, the food. Yes, the once-a-year availability of the fabulously delicious and gloriously unhealthy foods is one of my favorite aspects of the fair. It makes me scratch my head to know that there are people who actually pack a lunch to visit the fair. I don’t get it, and I don’t think I ever will.

This particular visit to the state fair was not lacking for excellent people watching, exhibits, or an endless variety of foods. As midday arrived, I, like so many others, found myself hungry and thought I would try the deep-fried candy bars. There was a building not far from where I was with this odd offering, and I headed there. The midday hour also reminded countless other people that they were hungry, and the hot sun was right where it was supposed to be, high in the sky.

The line for deep-fried confections was long, and the hot sun was merciless. Deciding that I craved shade over sugar, I sought the comfort of the grandstand building, a few hundred paces away. The grandstand building is ancient and predates air conditioning. Its multiple levels are home during the fair to numerous art and craft booths and resemble in some respects a flea market or craft show, with something for just about every interest. It was hot in there, but still a welcome relief from the sun.

I was browsing the various booths and their offerings when I came upon a booth promoting the pro-life cause. The specific organization it represented has long since faded from memory, but what I saw there never will. There were two young, maybe college-age girls behind the booth. In spite of the heat, they were very modestly but attractively dressed in long skirts and long-sleeved tops. They wore light makeup, but it was the smiles they wore that were perhaps their most memorable feature. 
 
Many people approached the booth, if only briefly, and the girls were very engaging and pleasant and seemed not only very committed to their cause but genuinely happy to be there. It was not hard to imagine a wholesome young man pursuing one of these vibrant young women for marriage and having many children. I made conversation with them for a while, enjoying the experience before I moved on.

I hadn’t gone far in the grandstand when I came upon a pro-abortion/Planned Parenthood booth. Upon seeing it I was reminded of how nature gives warnings to stay away or not to touch. Porcupines have quills, skunks have an identifying stripe, alligators have lots of teeth, and rattlesnakes have a rattle. This train of thought parked at my mind’s station because the two young women staffing the pro-abortion booth were an amazing contrast to those in the pro-life booth. They wore all black, had jet-black dyed hair, numerous facial piercings and tattoos, and a sour, dark disposition that was amazingly consistent with the rest of their appearance. I didn’t see a high risk factor of those girls getting pregnant, marriage notwithstanding.

They would not smile, and nobody, while I watched, approached their booth. It was clear that they had no wish to be there and didn’t even seem to like each other, let alone themselves. Still, to represent selfishness, promiscuity, and death, no better choices could have been made. I was amazed not only at that but also at the curious juxtaposition with the pro-life booth and its vibrant, lively attendants.
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I would have liked an opportunity to get the attendants of the abortion booth to smile, but I don’t think that even a big basket of deep-fried candy bars would have done it. 

Image credit: Tim Nelson, MPR news