Fair mishaps

By Jennifer Jacob
jjacob@themeridianstar.com

It seems like every time I cover an outdoor event where it's really hot and sunny, I have some kind of dumb mishap.

At the NAS-Meridian air show earlier this year, I had a mishap with a sunburn. Now, at the Neshoba County Fair, I have another mishap - locking my keys in the car.
I've always been pretty bad about locking my keys in the car, getting flat tires, and ending up in ditches, which is why I always keep my AAA card handy.

But this time, instead of AAA, it was Meridian Star photographer Paula Merritt, three construction workers from Philadephia, and a guy with some coat-hangers that came to the rescue.

As anyone who has been to the Neshoba County Fair knows, it is freakin' hot. This was my first year at the fair, and not knowing my way around, I parked about as far away from the fairgrounds as I could. After a hot but somewhat pleasant day of visiting cabins, I proceeded to make my way back to my car and realized I had no clue how to get there. I walked in the very, very hot sun for about half an hour until I found it. I can't describe how happy I was to see my car at that moment. I wanted nothing more than to sit down and turn on the AC, but to my extreme dismay, I found that my keys were not in my purse, but still in the ignition of my locked car.

After a few minutes of believing I was doomed to crawl across the red dirt screaming "Agua!!" until I reached the shelter of a cabin and figured out what to do about my keys, I was rescued by Paula, who picked me up off the side of the highway, found some coathangers at a friends cabin, and drove me back to the car to attempt to unlock it.

Just when it became clear that I was going to be unsuccessful in my quest to unlock my car, three Yates construction employees stopped and, after a great deal of arguing and picking on one another, unlocked my door.

Thank you Paula, Daniel, and Yates construction!!!

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