Ceit Butler
Shepard Smith:
Who doesn't love a good carnival or fair? A fond memory from everyone's childhood, I'm sure. The bright lights and loud music from the rides mingling with shrieks of delight; the cotton candy, the caramel corn, the mouth-watering smells eminating from the various food stands.
And everyone's favourite: The Midway. In every direction something new is vying for your attention. Flashing lights, bells and buzzers; and of course, the Carnies.
They lure you in with a fast-paced, sweet-talking promise of fabulous prizes that only you, with your obvious intelligence and physical prowess, could possibly hope to acquire! They seduce you with a melodic siren's song, merging with the dizzying lights and cacophony of other sounds to draw you into an almost hypnotic trance. Sometime later, you find yourself coming out the other side, bleary-eyed and somewhat dazed, with an empty wallet and your arms full of "fabulous prizes" that wouldn't make the grade to stock the shelves of your lowest-quality dollar store.
The magician gig has honed your carnie-salesman skills well, but I suggest you leave them at the door when you enter this arena as they will not help you here. No one here is fooled by artificial charm, and you will find yourself called out on it each and every time you try. That's what I am referring to when I say "easy-going, laid-back Southern-thing".
I think I'll close with a shameless, self-promoting plug for an article that covered this point! :D
https://www.facebook.com/notes/ceit-butler/political-correctness-or-the-art-of-being-nice/10152180673318263