To me this is interesting because here in the US, there is an old tradition that is still alive and well, mostly in rural parts of the country. It is called the "County Fair", sometimes called the "State Fair", and sometimes it has other names to be sure.
There are rides and games and novelties of all kinds, for old and young. One can purchase food and drink and the larger "fairs" offer musical entertainment as well.
Now people, locals and tourists alike, come to these events, and they bring their loved ones, their girl/boyfriends, children and such and they generally enjoy themselves. They ride the rides, play some games of chance and skill and, they buy cotton candy and ice cream. Ultimately they blow a few dollars during the evening. It is rare, to see a tourist or fairgoer claim that they were cheated. Certainly it does happen, but on the whole this is an uncommon experience. Why? Well for a couple of reasons. First, the people who run the fair, the rides and the concessions are "professionals" and to the extent that they have skills, or have good training, they are able to take your money without
you knowing that the game is fixed. Are they con artists, yes certainly some are. But it is only the incompetent among them that get caught and draw attention to themselves in the process.
In my opinion, ET is at this point in its existence nothing more than a good old fashioned "County Fair" or carnival....Certainly it has many of the same features.
So when one of the vendors opens up shop here on this site and proclaims "Here we are folks, straight from the farthest reaches of "fill in the blank" come and see the mysterious, the fantastic, the unbelievable "fill in the blank"!!!!!! Hurry, hurry, hurry, it will amaze, it will confound, it will confuse and delight you one and all!!!! Only "fill in the blank" per adult.....and please no flash photography.....hey what are you staring at son, this aint the Tastee Freeze, adults only, move along.....
