We all remember that beloved children's bedtime story about the hooker who approached the old man on the street and said, "Hey, pops, I'll do anything you want for $100."

The man, whose interest in what the woman was really selling had long since died, thought it over. "OK," he said, "paint my house."

I felt like that old man upon hearing that the N.C. State Fair is paying Clay Aiken an obscene amount to perform this year: Long after our interest in what Clay is selling has, if not died, at least passed its peak, he's making $100,000 to perform at Dorton Arena.

Tiffany Budd, the fair's promotions specialist, said, "It's worth it to us" even though the fair will lose money on the booking.

Can't you just hear Meg Scott Phipps in her cell saying, "And they arrested me for my State Fair shenanigans? Oy vey!"

I rode the short bus to school -- I really did, so don't look at me like that -- so someone must explain to me how paying Clay $100,000 is good business when Dorton Arena seats only 6,000 and tickets are $15. Even if you sell out the joint, which you will, you're still $10,000 in the hole -- and you haven't even paid his opening act.

That's indefensible, especially when you see Aiken constantly on TV or when there's a grand opening of a Fred's Beds in, say, Rat Spit, Wyoming.

Budd seems unaware that, for many of the people venturing forth annually from their tiny hometowns to gape at the state's award-winning livestock or produce, any attraction is worth the trip. She could stick a microphone in front of three bleating sheep, two kumquats and a giant squash -- and nobody would notice.

The fair's own survey from 2002, Budd said, showed that few people actually go to the State Fair for the concerts.

What makes the fee paid for Aiken's performance even more distressing is how prices at the State Fair have ballooned.

Budd assured me that prices on fair staples -- cotton candy, fried Snickers bars, turkey legs -- won't increase to offset the Clay-induced shortfall. An evening at the fair for a family of four can easily cost $200 -- more, if you eat. Fairgoers suffering sticker shock called me complaining last year about the higher price of everything.

Turkey legs, for me the fair's main attraction, were $7 last year, which helps explain why you might have seen that family of four I mentioned earlier taking turns nibbling on one. I didn't resort to that, but I did take the bone home to make soup the next day.

Aiken's solo tour begins July 8 in Grand Forks, N.D. Chris Semrau, director of events at Grand Forks' Engelstad Arena, declined to say what our boy is taking them for, but he said admiringly, "The boy's getting paid. He's doing all right."

When I told Semrau that we're paying him $100,000, he was not surprised. "Clay is not entertaining offers for much less than that," he said.

Come on, folks, let's face it. Clay Aiken seems like a nice enough chap, and no one should begrudge his milking this cow dry. Still, it's hard to think of anything he can do that's worth that much money.

Unless it's come over and paint all of our houses.

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