The N.C. State Fair is a large undertaking by the department, with many divisions participating in a variety of exhibits and displays. Their goal is to share with visitors ways the department works for them.
The department’s Standards Division display always attracts attention at the Fair. It’s the booth in the Education Building where people can hop on the scales and get their official weight.
Standards employee Georgia Brock weighs in a fairgoer at the N.C. State Fair.
But while the Standards booth grabs people’s attention, it also tries to educate farigoers on some of the services the division provides.
If I had to pick two words to cover what the Standards Division does on a daily basis, it would be fairness and accuracy. This division works to make sure you get a gallon of gas if you pay for a gallon of gas. It checks price scanners in grocery stores to make sure the prices advertised are the prices shoppers pay at the checkout counter. It checks commercial scales to ensure they are accurate and fair to both customer and business owner.
These are some of the higher profile things the division is involved in, but it also checks some other things that are more obscure. One example is the inspection of the lottery balls. The Standards Division annually checks the dimensions of the balls to ensure they are not unequally weighted or sized.
Fairgoers can see how the Standards Division checks balls used in the lottery drawings.
This year’s booth in the Scott Building explains the process involved in checking lottery balls. Stop by and check it out, and hop on the scales, too, if you really feel like you want to know what you weigh.