Friday, June 24, 2022
Whack-A-Mole
you ever hear that life is like a game of Whack-A-Mole?
Aladdin’s Castle. Longview Mall
Must have been about 1979? I’d finally convinced dad to look at the video games. He loved computers. And games. But I think the arcade was too much input all at once for him. But he came anyhow.
He saw the whack a mole game that gave out tickets based on your score.
Watched a few kids play it. Learned how it worked. Then told me. “You will win. Put down the hammer and do what I tell you”
He put a quarter in the game and said “sit on it “
What?
“Sit on it”
I did. When the mole is “whacked” it drops and another mole comes up. With me covering the board with my butt, legs and hands? It quickly registered “whacked, whacked, whacked….”
The game finished in normal time, and I had about 200 tickets.
Engineers are smart about some things
He demanded I spend the tickets on Jelly Beans. His favorite thing
It was worthwhile
Aladdin’s Castle. Longview Mall
Must have been about 1979? I’d finally convinced dad to look at the video games. He loved computers. And games. But I think the arcade was too much input all at once for him. But he came anyhow.
He saw the whack a mole game that gave out tickets based on your score.
Watched a few kids play it. Learned how it worked. Then told me. “You will win. Put down the hammer and do what I tell you”
He put a quarter in the game and said “sit on it “
What?
“Sit on it”
I did. When the mole is “whacked” it drops and another mole comes up. With me covering the board with my butt, legs and hands? It quickly registered “whacked, whacked, whacked….”
The game finished in normal time, and I had about 200 tickets.
Engineers are smart about some things
He demanded I spend the tickets on Jelly Beans. His favorite thing
It was worthwhile

