ian (06/03/82)
Chuck Antonelli's (ihnss!ihuxg!cja) inquiry prompts me to report on experiences at the World's Fair in Knoxville, TN. We arrived on a Monday to beat the weekend crowds. The radio reports indicated `lots of space at all official parking lots', so we drove off the interstate to the first one. The lot was largely full, but one whole section was occupied by a single police motorcycle, and a stereotypical Georgia cop was blocking the entrance (perhaps holding the spaces for his friends?). He would not discuss anything, but told us to go to an unofficial overflow lot a few blocks away - call it Joe's. Joe charges the same rate ($6) but his shuttle busses leave every 30 minutes - if you can get on. At this point we turned to each other and said in unison: ``Stuff the World's Fair.''. Back on the interstate, trying to leave town, we saw one last sign for an official parking lot, and foolishly gave it one more chance. When we found the lot, it was (a) only about 1/4 full, (b) official, and (c) directly across from the Yellow entrance to the fairgrounds. We paid our $6 to park, and $10 each to get in, and entered the World's Fair. Almost every pavillion had hundreds (literally) of people in line. Larger ones had close to a thousand people in line - the Communist Republic of China to name one. Even the washrooms had fifteen minute lineups - except for the one under the fair tower. Only one of the Baptist pavillions had no lineup, mainly because the show had just gone in! (Why a religion pavillion at a World's Fair whose theme is `Energy'? These people are very inventive prosyletizers, and several religious groups came up with variations on the `God is Energy' theme.) We got into one pavilion - the `Energy and Lifestyle' or some such name. There was no lineup there, and one or two exhibits were actually interesting. But this pavilion alone was not worth the time or money to find a parking space and get into the fair. After taking in the scene for an hour or so, we gave up and left. The fair is poorly organized, overcrowded, and to my taste overpriced. If you don't mind spending $10 to stand in line most of the day, go. Otherwise, spend your vacation elsewhere (the Blue Ridge Parkway begins a short way from Knoxville and is much more to my taste). If I had gone very far out of my way to see the fair, I'd have been very upset. Fortunately, it was just a sidetrip between the DECUS convention in Atlanta and a vacation further north. In short, Mr. Antonelli, most of what you have heard about the fair is true. Ian Darwin U of Toronto Computing Services