Now who said carnival rides are not safe?

August 21st, 2009: Standing in a dusty field next to the Pacific Ocean, my eyes rested on a rusty metal ride called the Ring of Fire. The metal was bent, twisted and seemed to be held together by some plastic bolts that were apparently made by Fisher Price. At the top of the ride, flaps a tattered U.S. flag, resembling the one that the Marines and Navy Corpsman famously raised during the battle of Iwo Jima. Clearly, the U.S. safety standards for carnival rides must have displaced this vehicle of entertainment to our southern neighbor years ago.

Walking around the carnival, I felt as if I jumped in my DeLorean with a flux capacitor and was taken back in time. Noticing the Toboggan ride, artistically this could resemble an expensive piece of modern art which has not yet been discovered. Until this happens, it is merely an antique seeming to be more terrifying now, than when it was new and fully functional. I am not sure if it was because of the eerie sounds that the ride made when the people were being lifted to great heights or if it was when the cart spun down the rusty metal rails, failing to make it up the last dip without the assistance of the operator…needing to push it up before the trialing cart collided into the other ones, creating a pile up or possible derailment.

To me, it seemed that there was a lot of potential work for a highly skilled carny mechanic. Never the less, I was proud to see that the U.S. companies who sold the rides were being conscience about the need to recycle in addition to helping…curb overpopulation in selected cities of Ecuador by the convenience of, accidents. Who said Corporate America is not doing its part to making this world a better place?