Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Gimme a quarter

  1. #1
    Bell (Level 8) Cafeman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    1,789
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default Gimme a quarter

    All my friends were lucky. They lived in town. Where the arcade was. I lived a few miles out, in the boonies. In the sticks. Alas, at age 13, all I could do is dream about that that fabled place called The Pool Hall, home of Tempest, Mr. Do, and one game in particular everyone loved but I had never seen: Crazy Climber! Dual joysticks! Speech! Fun gameplay!

    As luck would have it, the old man had to make a trip to town for some Ford truck part. I tagged along, told him I'd meet him in half an hour. I walked quickly down the alley towards The Pool Hall, went inside.

    Kind of scoped out the place. Bunch of older kids in there that I didn't know. I had 3 quarters. That meant one quarter for a game of Mr. Do, one game of Crazy Climber (it cost 50 cents a game for some reason). Played Mr. Do but could only think of what was coming next: Crazy Climber. Mr. Do got squished , I didn't care because I played lots of Mr. Do at the local Sheetz. Walked over casually to the Crazy Climber, and got cut off by Billy Skelly. The local tough. He beat me up in 5th grade, I never got over that.

    "Gimme a quarter" he said. I was being bullied! Extortion! Payoff for protection! But I only had 2. If I gave him a quarter, I couldn't play the one game I was dying to play. If I told him no, I'd get beat up. If I lied and he saw me play a game with a quarter, I'd get beat up.

    I gave him the quarter. Crazy Climber probably sucks anyway. The Friggin' End. (True story)

  2. #2
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Posts
    9
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default ahh, reminds me of my childhood

    Sorry to hear about your experience.

    I remember hearing that phrase. In fact, I've even told my story to several friends, multiple times.
    Although, I too, was the victim of bullies in school, against strangers, I had no problems fighting for my rights. One kid said "gimme a quarter", tried to pull it from my hand, and I tightly clenched my fist which held that quarter, and yelled back "no!"

    There was no one who was gonna get in my way of playing Operation Wolf, 720, Kung Fu, etc.

  3. #3
    Crono (Level 14) Pantechnicon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Alburquerque
    Posts
    6,711
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    Zeno2112

    Default

    I never got beat up for a quarter. Actually the bullying in my day was sort of a reversed context. Back then the bullies were older teens who already had all the monies; 20 to 30 quarters stacked edge to edge - as arcade etiquette dictated - along the bottom of the screen bezel while they hogged the machine for an hour or two. Meanwhile, scrawny little 11-year-olds like myself with naught but fiddy-cents to our names were always risking an elbow in the nose ("Stay away from my quarters, ya little faggot!") by peering around the backs of these bigger kids to see how close they were to being done with the game. Some days those stacks of quarters seemed to move at geological rates of speed.

    (/me looks at my MAME cab) Man, I'm glad those days are over.
    Last edited by Pantechnicon; 08-21-2007 at 05:15 PM.

  4. #4
    Strawberry (Level 2) Apollo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    North NJ
    Posts
    552
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    Cataractula
    PSN
    CTRCT

    Default

    Hahaha, "The Friggin' End."

    It's happened to most people, man. Don't feel too bad.

  5. #5
    Late to the party DigitalSpace's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    10,626
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    This reminds me of when I found a quarter on the playground one day when I was in 4th grade. I told a so-called friend about it, and he tricked me into thinking that I had found his lost quarter.


    Collection List | Twitter
    Check out the new N64 Rumble Pak. See how it feels to feel what you see.

  6. #6
    Pear (Level 6) PentiumMMX's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    A secret fortress of doom
    Posts
    1,347
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    PSN
    PentiumMMX

    Default

    I've never had that happen, believe it or not.

  7. #7
    ServBot (Level 11) Slate's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Posts
    3,660
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    84
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    7
    Thanked in
    7 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by PentiumMMX View Post
    I've never had that happen, believe it or not.

    Me neither. But if it happened to me, I'd tell that person to take a hike.

  8. #8
    Key (Level 9) Mattiekrome's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    1,988
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    PSN
    SouthRox
    Steam
    SouthRox

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by DigitalSpace View Post
    This reminds me of when I found a quarter on the playground one day when I was in 4th grade. I told a so-called friend about it, and he tricked me into thinking that I had found his lost quarter.



    Bastard! My sister tried that on me at the beach one year. I found 10 bucks at the fireworks show, and she said it was hers


    PSN: SouthRox

  9. #9
    Insert Coin (Level 0) omega_squid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Kentucky
    Posts
    73
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Steam
    osquid

    Exclamation

    I had a quarter in my pocket as I read this...
    Like free games? Then visit my site - www.osquid.com

    DP Feedback | eBay Feedback

Similar Threads

  1. N64 Must Haves (gimme a little help)
    By Jive3D in forum Classic Gaming
    Replies: 26
    Last Post: 10-29-2003, 08:27 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •