When our local K-Mart installed an arcade in the early 80s, it didn't realize how industrious the local kids were.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Kmart's Arcade Emporium, Force Another Nickel In.
00:03In the early 80s, the manager at our local Kmart saw dollar signs in the form of Pac-Man,
00:09Dig Dug, and the Karate Champ. He converted a little-used backroom into a video game arcade,
00:15allowing parents to follow the blue light and enjoy a sub-sandwich while we saved the universe.
00:20Instead of quarters, the machines only accepted special tokens we had to buy at fair market value.
00:27At one point, it was six tokens for a dollar.
00:30While many of us followed the rules and used the tokens to chop-sock our way through Karate Champ
00:35or blow the space invaders to smithereens, a new crop of petty criminals emerged.
00:42Someone, ahem, discovered that certain machines would also accept nickels with the right amount
00:47of enthusiasm. Instead of spending a dollar on six lousy plays, the going rate became twenty
00:53plays for a buck. Take that, Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde. Eventually, the Kmart employee stationed
01:00closest to the arcade discovered our crime ring after clearing out hundreds of nickels from the
01:05machines one night. Within a few weeks, the entire arcade was gone, along with our high
01:10scores and unused tokens. Crime may not pay, but it can rack up a lot of extra turns.