Sep 08 2010
Zeke hits the Jackpot
Zeke went to the bowling alley for a friend’s birthday party last month. Being a good Manry, he put his game face on for the bowling. It doesn’t matter how many times I tell my children the “Meloch Mantra” that bowling is just something you do for fun, their Manry genetics cause them to be filled with the longing for getting their own ball made and going to league night.
Zeke kept watching the scores with a worried look on his face. The boy hates to lose. Most of the other six and seven year olds weren’t even paying attention. They sometimes rolled the ball down the help ramp and often did not realize that it was their turn. “Look at the other children,” I wanted to say, “Bowling is something you do for fun.” I stayed quiet however, because at the moment, he was trying to figure out how to handle a seven/ten split.
Once the bowling ended, there was pizza, soda, and donuts for all. They also received goodie bags with a triangle peg board game (cracker barrel has them on their tables) and tokens for the game room. Zeke couldn’t wait to play his tokens, because in the game room he had seen “The Claw.”
My children often beg me for coins to play “The Claw” in Walmart, Pizza Hut, the mall, or anywhere else it might reside. I always refuse. “It’s just like throwing your money away,” I tell them, “No one ever wins at The Claw.” They always think they will be the one to beat “The Claw” and just like all gamblers, they end up busted with nothing but the memory of their thrilling chance.
(While talking to another Mom about my disdain for “The Claw” she told me that her son always begged her to give him money to play it too. She repeatedly told him no, but on his birthday, she relented and gave him some quarters to play it. Remarkably, he actually won a purple care bear that he carried around in triumph for a long time.)
Zeke lost most of his tokens on “The Claw” and when Abby wouldn’t give him her tokens to lose (the girl is learning), he played air hockey.
With his last token he went over to a game where a wheel of numbers spin and you pull down a lever to stop the wheel. The number that comes up is the number of prize tickets you win for the game.
Zeke pulled the lever and to his delight, the wheel stopped on 1000. He jumped up and down, covered his mouth in shock, and watched the tickets pour out and out and out. Everyone came over to see his pile of tickets grow. It was unbelievable.
Zeke hit the jackpot
Zeke hit the Jackpot.
1000 Tickets
He looks like my Mom after she wins the penny slots…
just too cute Dale