The Gambler

Yesterday Scott and Robby enjoyed another snow day. Both boys were elated when we received the calls that classes were canceled, and although I was happy, I was a little frazzled when I realized that the weather was not favorable for outdoor play, meaning that I was going to be contending with a bored six year old if I didn't come up with a plan to keep him busy.

After toying around with a few ideas, I settled on something that would propel me into the strata of "World's Best Momom" again. I called Robby's friend and arranged to take the two to a place that equates to pure utopia for elementary aged kids. To the delight of everybody, we were going to Chuck E. Cheese!

Despite pledging his undying love for the establishment, Robby has only been to there a handful of times. I don't hate going, but I have to admit that it isn't my favorite way to spend an afternoon. I find it noisy, crowded, and expensive. I decided to be a hero and pushed away my own qualms about the establishment as I grabbed my debit card and prepared for a memorable afternoon. Both friends were chatting non-stop as we drove to the kid-themed Mecca.

Armed with a cupful of gold tokens, Robby and his friend took off on their mission: to win as many tickets as possible. After setting up the table and getting drinks, I became bored. I absentmindedly rolled a token into a machine. I attributed my  winning only one ticket to my not paying attention. Deciding to even up the loss (most games give at least three tickets per play) I carefully analyzed the timing mechanism before rolling in my token. Shoot! I was too late and again only received the compensatory ticket.

I ended up spending the next 40 minutes trying to master the game. Finally I had perfected the timing and won the jackpot (100 tickets!) The siren wailed and I stood by the machine quite proud as the tickets began rolling out. Robby and his friend even stopped playing to watch me receive my spoils. 

After gathering my 100 ticket jackpot, I figured I had mastered the game and that winning again would be easy. I tried to repeat the timing of my coin release but was not successful. I was horribly disappointed to receive the single "you lose" ticket. In an attempt to prove that my jackpot was not a fluke, I reached into the little token cup to try again.

The cup was empty. Without knowing it, I had used all of the kids tokens trying to win one game! I quickly bought more tokens to replenish the stockpile I had squandered. I decided that I may have a Chuck E. Cheese gambling problem. It certainly is a good thing that we don't live close to a casino!