Eric

So it was Eric who explained that no one working this spot was a carnie. (A 'spot' is particular fair or carnival during a particular year. Consensus on everyone's favorite spot? Topsfield, Mass. The last one of the season)
Carnie is a title of great honor and not easily applied. Anyone who begins working at the fair and calls themselves one is quickly corrected. Eric thought Old Man freddy MAY be one, or the closest he'd ever met, anyway.

A Carnie, he says, never loses money (these guys are hellish gamblers, at this point Joe had lost ALL of his money to Eric and had to go to Eric to 'borrow' it back. Eric later admitted he had Joe's money but that he wasn't really going to keep it. he just liked having Joe to have to ask for it. See? Tribal.), a carnie never gets hurt. "Hurt?" I asked. "Like around the equipment?" Nay nay Gentle Viewer. You see those scantily clad girl roaming the fairgrounds? They HURT the workers. These are sensitive men looking for love and...well...Carnies don't get hurt.