Can You Still Win A Fish at the Fair?

Jasper's 4-year-old face lit up when we passed the throw the ping pong ball into the tiny fish tank openings game with live goldfish as prizes. I won my first goldfish at my elementary school Halloween carnival, and my parents were stuck buying it an aquarium.  Poor saps.  

We explained to him that the games were very hard to win, because the booth owners had bills to pay too, and they couldn't make a living if everyone who played won. We really didn't want a fish, but he had been asking for one for months, and the odds seemed ever in our favor. 

The entire basket of balls predictably bounced off the empty fish tank goals. There were tears, and the sweet carni gave him extra balls. After these careened away from their mark, Jasper sobbed even harder.  

At this point, the poor man handed him a fish in a tiny plastic tank anyway. Jasper immediately dropped it on the ground.  We grabbed it, saving half the water and the poor feeder fish. We said our thank yous profusely, and apologized for soaking his booth, while Jasper happily chatted with Orange, his new goldfish.  

Fish-sized pirate ship to follow