Behind the scenes at the fair

You can’t see their faces, but they are the reason we enjoy the fair: ­ carnival workers laboring behind the scenes, making the final preparations necessary for opening day at the Evergreen State Fair.

I met them emerging from the midway on Wednesday afternoon. Although closed to the public that afternoon, the fair bristled with energy. Workers raising roller coasters into the sky, vendors roasting chickens and turkey legs, trucks bringing swollen bags of plush toys for the midway games, then these pairs of legs laden with stacks of tubes — tomorrow’s bumper boats becoming today’s picture.

I snapped as they rounded the corner. They didn’t have time to stop for a burger. Their day was all business. We often miss the people whose labor runs the fair. An entire population lives on the road with the rides, sleeping in bunks at the fairgrounds and answering round-the-clock calls to labor as the fair rolls on. They remain faceless as we amuse ourselves.