Story By Doc Rivera
Many years ago I worked as the Chief Electrician on the now defunct West Coast Shows which ended up it’s season at the Arizona State Fair in Phoenix.
In those days the salaried employees of the show got little more than subsistence wages and had to supplement their income in imaginative ways.
The electricians made an extra buck by charging for “cut ins” which was merely the act of securing ones electrical cord into the shows junction box with candy apple sticks.
The usual “tip” for this service was $5.00 which covered the entire run of the fair and gave the tipper the privilege of calling on one of us if he had electrical problems during the date.
Most paid with a wink and a smile and were glad to be able to invoke our services when they needed us but occasionally we’d get a “stiff” who would promise to “catch us later” but always had an excuse when it came time to pony up the dough.
One such deadbeat was a miserable old guy who had an “ARABIAN GIANTESS” show and had stiffed us for two years running at this fair.
