Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Teenage Delight


There comes a time in one’s life when they must decide “What shall I do this evening?” In a quandary as such, I have something to say on the matter. An ideal solution to such a problem, if such a problem exists, is quite obvious. A trip to the arcade is in order.

You guessed it (smartypants!). I went to the arcade. No, I’m not a teenager anymore, but as an avid player in the game “role playing,” I feel I acted the part to a T—the role of a teenager, that is.

Armed with six dollars, I paid an admission fee of $2.50 and obtained, for another $3.50, a bag of nickels. I went around spending my nickels on various forms of entertainment and role playing activities—shooting things, driving race cars, throwing balls at targets (and not hitting the target, I might add) and riding a bike on a machine that was all in Japanese.

Arcades are like gambling for kids. They give you tickets, which you can trade in later for astonishing prizes. For example, there was this jackpot machine, where the participant hits the button when the light lands on the spot that says “jackpot,” they win a large amount of tickets which function as currency in arcade territory. It’s probably like the arcade version of the casino game roulette. Well, I got really addicted to this and I kept wanting more. So, I continued to reach into my bag of nickels for another round…and another…and another. After losing several times, I gave up and ambled over to the machine where one pretends to be jump roping; I learned I have more aptitude with pretend jump roping than I do with arcade jackpot games. I could even have a promising future with pretend jump roping, were it done competitively.

For my efforts, I was rewarded with some tickets. I went up to the counter and began to think about what desirable items I might enjoy. Should I go with the lizard key chain? The spider ring? The plastic daisy? Or, a bouncy ball? I ended up getting a bag of candy and some very tame fireworks (such as pop-its).

After the arcade, we decided that the best way to top off the evening would be to go to the 7-11 for a slurpee. But, we spied a coffee shop instead and ended up getting pink lemonade and mango sorbet. We had a frightful amount of sugar, which is what most teenagers do. Right?

So, if you’re bored and wishing you were a teenager, I have this advice to bestow upon you—the arcade.

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