It’s All Fun And Games, Until It’s Not

I’m fifteen, and I’m working in a small sideshow/amusement fair area part of a music venue. There are only three games and four rides, so when guests come in, we usually see them often that night, especially kids.

On a particularly quiet night, I was working a game where you’d catch a fish, and the higher the number on the bottom of the fish was, the bigger the prize. I had a pair of girls come through. They were about eleven or so and hung around my game for about half an hour. [Girl #1] was very nice. She paid for a few games and won herself a prize. [Girl #2], on the other hand, was an issue.

Girl #2: “Can I have a free game, since my friend is buying? I want to win something, too!”

Me: “No, sorry.”

Girl #2: *Jokingly.* “Can I come work with you and be paid in stuffed animals?”

Me: “Nope, sorry!”

She continuously pushed for free games and tried to come back behind the game where only the workers were allowed. When other guests would come through to play a game or two, she kept telling them to leave.

Girl #2: “It’s a scam! You can’t win anything unless you spend lots of money! And I know all the numbers.”

This wasn’t true.

When people would play, she’d flip the fish over and tell them the numbers. It was mostly lighthearted joking and doing no harm until the point where I had to PHYSICALLY remove her and block her from coming into my workspace, since she had snuck in while I was serving someone else and began messing with the prizes and money. That was the point that I snapped.

Me: “You are making my job hard, and if you don’t pull your head in, I’ll call security, who will have you and your family removed from the venue.”