Dear Mark

 

I have a problem and I really don't know what to do. I love the SideShow and the biggest fair in town is opening up. Every year I talk a pile of my pals and their girls into coming along and seeing the shows. We have a great time and although we know a lot of it is made up we get a good laugh and sometimes even a live show for a buck so we don't mind coming back a few times if we can while the fairs are in town.

 

Problem is every time I come home there's some kind weird chalk or clay stain on my back.

 

I just wipe it off usually but some of my friends noticed the same problem last night when we got home from opening day. Now a few of the guys don't want to come back. Jonmarlo says his girl heard people in these fairs rob people with crooked games and her uncle the cop in town said there are a lot of conmen there. We decided to check it out on the internet and we found a site where they were saying that people like us I guess were Marks.

 

I looked it up in the dictionary.  Now I'm really confused! Is it meant as an insult?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Marcus M. Arc

Suckertown, USA

 

 

Marcus,

 

If you didn't get to close to the Coke joint or brush up against one of those ride jocks,

then I would say that maybe someone seen you and your friends coming.

 

Mark is Carny Lingo, **it's a carnival term for a townsperson, in the sense of 'victim.' When a carny spotted a towny with a big bankroll, he would give him a friendly slap on the back leaving a chalk mark so other carnies would know that this customer had lots of money. Often the ticket seller would mark the 'mark.' The booth would have a high counter, above the average person's eyesight, and the ticket seller would short-change the customer, leaving the change on the counter. If the customer didn't notice or didn't count his change, the ticket seller would lean over to give him some "friendly" advice about the best attractions, putting his hand on the customer's shoulder to point him toward the show he simply must see … and simultaneously dusting his back with chalk from a hidden supply. If the customer instead complained about the wrong change, the ticket seller could always push the remaining change to him and say "I told you to take it." And what do you do when you spot a mark? You "play" him - that's right, just like you play a fish. But a carny truism is, "Always leave the mark a dollar for gas." With gas money he can go home (you don't want him stuck there growing angrier with you every minute).

 

As for me, no bankroll here. I guess I'll just have to change my name!