Ready Set Fish

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.”

Albert Einstein

One of my summer jobs while pursuing an undergraduate degree at Humboldt State was at a 5000 home HOA (Home Owner’s Association). I mention the size because with ten thousand or more residences there are usually a variety of activities available for the homeowners.  I was in charge of checking in guests to use one of the 3 pools and registering for various classes, such as yoga, zumba, and children’s youth club activities, etc. Not difficult work but an introduction to customer service and complaint resolution. One of my first get-out-from-behind-the-counter assignments was to help out at the Sleepy Dog Saloon and Brewery tasting event. It was a try-the-local-craft-beer event that included games and dancing under the stars to Pandora’s greatest hits.

One of the new games was the Gold Fish Race. I was put in charge of recruiting attendees to participate in the races, as well as, setting up the race brackets so that we could crown a Nemo and Aerial of the Sea winner. I was somewhat ecstatic to be trusted with such a task while, at the same time, somewhat leery that this would be a spectacularly exciting event. The race course was a 10 foot gutter sealed at both ends, filled with water and painted with a start and finish line 6 inches inside both ends. Since this was a one and done match race, I set up two gutters on extra-long rectangular tables that gave the crowd of spectators plenty of room to cheer on their favorites. Each fish trainer/competitor was given a little squirt gun and allowed to net their fish racer from a bowl containing 6 freshly purchased gold fish. I made sure the gutters had enough water for the goldfish to feel at home. After explaining the rules to the racers that they must stay at the Start-Line end of the table and could coax their fish to swim to the other end with directional reminders using their squirt gun, I indicated that I was told that goldfish wanted to compete and that swimming was a healthy exercise for a long and productive life.

While trying to recruit participants, I found quite a few people voicing animal rights concerns. If goldfish died during this cruel exhibit of human dominance, their demise was on my shoulders. The races began about three craft beers into the night and when the auditorium loud speakers were turned to broadcasting the race action, an overwhelming crowd gathered around my little event. Some of the loudest cheers and rowdiest contestants were the animal activists.  When the ‘Golden Flash’ was inches from the finish then turned around and sped off to the start line, the laughs drowned out the cheers. It was a great experience to see the community come together and cheer and laugh each other on. At the end of the night everyone was smiling and thanking me for bringing some excitement to the night. After crowning the Nemo and Ariel winners, Nemo’s daughter asked if she could keep ‘Tuna of the Sea’ her dad’s winning fish. I am proud to announce the entire school found a loving home.

Morals: 1) Fish Races are a fun way to bring people together. 2) Step out of your comfort zone, you may have a memorable time.