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Thread ID: 147688 2019-03-08 06:46:00 The Dancing Chicken............... SurferJoe46 (51) PC World Chat
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1458798 2019-03-08 06:46:00 The Dancing Chicken .

Many year ago – maybe 1963 or so, I was introduced to Knott's Berry Farm by my mother and sister .

It was in Buena Park, California and even though I spent most of my time surfing or racing cars at Lion's Drag Strip, I found some pleasure in the 6/10s scale Western Gold Mine town that was replicated by tax-dodging Ol' Walter Knott and his rubber chicken-cooking wife .

There was one area that I found a little childish and at the same time interesting for only one thing: A Dancing Chicken . I think this area of the park was called something like Old MacDonald's Farm – or some other dumb-o name that only turned out to repulse teenagers – which I was – both a teenager and at the same time repulsed .

That Dancing Chicken always got to me . Why did it wait to dance until I put a nickel in the coin slot? Why didn't the chicken dance when it saw me coming? I was a repeat, repeat, repeat and repeat some more, customer . That chicken had to know I was good for a lot of free food in trade for a few moments of dancing .

I mean – I was going to get it to dance for – what – 20 seconds or so at a time, and then it got to eat, so it HAD to appreciate me when I'd show up with 20 nickels – a whole dollar's worth of joy and a reward of food for the chicken .

I even thought the chicken had a small spark of recognition of me as I approached his in his little glass-windowed cubicle . "Here he comes - I'll get a lot of food from this guy!" I could imagine the chicken saying in chicken-talk . That made me feel good, that I was doing something good for a chicken!

There I'd stand, watching that chicken dancing for me and then it got to eat – what must have been the key to why it danced . Sure! It was the Pavlovian reward: food for dancing – or rather: Dancing For Food!


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Quite a few Summers went by and then one day I was telling a buddy about the Knott's Berry Farm Dancing Chicken .

“It ain't there no more” Gary said .

“What?” I asked' “It's not there any more? Maybe the chicken died, they don't live a long time, ya know!”

“Nope” Gary Said: “The ASPCA shut it down as cruelty to animals” .

“Didn't get enough food?” I asked .

“Nah . Do you know WHY that chicken danced?” he asked me .

I was dumbfounded . I KNEW it was for food . It danced for the portion of food it got as a reward – I tried to think of another reason why a chicken would dance .

I mean – a chicken's got a pretty simple brain: eat, poop, sleep, poop, sex, poop, lay an egg, poop, eat, poop; maybe not in that order .

“It hadda be the food/reward” I told Gary, this time almost insisting that I knew why a chicken would dance for a nickel .

“Nope . Every time you put a nickel in the coin slot, the chicken got his feet electrocuted . He HAD to dance to get one foot at a time off the electrified wires he was standing on” .

I still can't look at a nickel and not think of a chicken being electrocuted by a stupid customer feeding a coin slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and ME with twenty nickels at a time . :(

.
SurferJoe46 (51)
1458799 2019-03-08 20:54:00 Must have been a special chicken prefect (6291)
1458800 2019-03-09 05:13:00 Find the person responsible, and make him dance for chicken feed.(the voltage would have to be increased):) Laggard (17509)
1458801 2019-03-23 07:43:00 Must have been a special chicken

An e-chicken.
R2x1 (4628)
1