They Cheat, I Tell You!

While waiting in line to pick up a prescription for Timothy today at Walmart, the kids took the opportunity to play a couple of the arcade games in the front of the store. The biggest attraction for Timothy is those claw machines. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones that are filled with stuffed animals that take all of your money, and when you finally manage to capture one and make it to the opening, you've spent $20. It would've been cheaper to just outright buy it.

Anyway, the claw machine of choice today was one not filled with stuffed animals, but one filled with all kinds of other goodies. Things such as alarm clocks and watches. Apparently a particular Green Bay Packer watch caught Tim's eye and he put his money in the machine.

When Mike and I got done at the pharmacy, we met the kids at the front of the store. We were greeted with a sour looking Timothy. "That machine cheats!" he yells across the front lobby. "I was going for a watch. A PACKERS watch that had to be worth fifty bucks! I had the claw above the watch, and when I pushed the button to drop it, it closed at the top and didn't pick up the watch!" He's still yelling. "It cheats, I tell you! Mom, can I have another dollar to try again?"

Ummmm......no? "That's enough for today. Maybe the machine is broken and it would only eat your money again. Let's go."

Then Rebecca chimes in, because Rebecca knows all and sees all. "You just didn't do it right. The machine doesn't cheat. Mom, he just didn't do it right. I tried for that alarm clock in there. See the one that is pink and sparkly? I tried for that one because it's probably worth about fifty bucks too, and it's pretty. The machine worked just fine for me. The claw dropped right on the clock, but it dropped it right away. He just did it wrong."

Riiiiiiight.........

Try explaining to a child that those machines are specifically put there to take people's money and produce few winnings. They were hearing none of it. "No way, Mom! We could've won that watch if it hadn't closed too soon. It had to be worth at least fifty bucks!"

This isn't the first time we've had this argument, and I'm sure it won't be the last. Not as long as someone feels the need to place these machines within reach of my children.

So, from this day forward, I have placed a curse on the people that put those machines there. And I've thrown in the people that put the candy bars near the registers, too. Just for good measure.