for the ages

This weekend, we went to the OB street fair.

It’s always a nostalgic outing for Bill and me; we fondly reminisce about the days when the street fair was a two day event and one could walk around with a cooler of joy if one was inclined. And one was generally inclined.

Back in the day, we never paid a bit of attention to the kid zone up there at the top of the block, our place was at the water’s edge by the main stage. It seems like the buzzkill enforcement of stricter booze laws and the introduction of the beer jail garden coincided with the addition of certain underage players to our team. And while it’s not strictly necessary to be drinking while enjoying the street fair on a hot gloomy Saturday afternoon in June….. oh, who am I trying to kid?

These days, going to any one of the rotating summer street fairs in the neighborhoods of San Diego means pretty much the same thing: gross overpriced greasy food and stupid overpriced yet stunningly lame rides.

In OB’s defense, I do prefer throwing my $20 away on the FUN SLIDE rather than the traditional two spins of the round up.

But still, I am here to speak the truth: kid land is boring for grown ups, even if you are lucky enough to sneak off to the beer jail first.

Walking down to the drinking block was enlightening, and confirmed what we’d begun to suspect: the OB street fair is no place for kids between the ages of 5-21. We soon made the executive decision to eschew the pad thai, gyros and sausage sandwiches for the relative comfort of our favorite spot at the beach. We scored a great table and got our yellowtail on (my official beer this summer, it’s delicious).

The fish tacos arrived, and all was right with the world. I noticed that my boy had a weird blue spot on his lower lip, and he insisted that I take his picture so he could see it:

Wait, I need to zoom


There, see that? How weird.

She was there, too.

So was he. Mmmmmmm, yellowtail.

But wait just a minute, there is something quite odd catching my eye in the background of that faraway shot.

Let's take a closer look, what IS that?

Is that not a mullet for the ages?

He’s just a kid -he was sipping soda, that beer belongs to the woman I presume was his mother. Yet it’s so coiffed! Did he look in the mirror and think: “Oh Yeah!”

Why doesn’t his mother do something? Someone needs to tell him!

I thought about it, I really did. It would have been an act of public service.

If you know this soul, or another like him, please… do something!