Let me tell you about a magical place. It's arguably the pinnacle of American entertaiment, perfectly combining a resturant, a bar, and video games into a wonderful, majestic land. It's a place where people gather. It's a place where people eat, drink, and be merry. It's a place where you can have all the tootsie rolls you could ever desire-with the right amount of tickets. It's a place where you can find a businessman in a suit playing Guitar Hero with an acne-riddled, t-shirt wearing teenager. I'm talking, of course, about Dave & Buster's.
For the uninitiated, Dave & Buster's is a nationwide, yet few-and-far-between chain of arcade-esque businesses. I say "esque" because, as much as I love arcades, D&B's possesses a bit more class than the average quarter-sucker. It's not only a giant arcade, but also a resturant and a sports bar, complete with a billiards room. Instead of the normal "pocket full of change" system, they have credit cards you can charge, then swipe at each game. Not only does it make the process much easier, it makes the 2 dollars games less painful to play. And, like any self-respecting arcade does, there's a whole room where you can spend your hard-earned tickets on anything from giant gummy bears to an Xbox 360 to Dave & Buster's boxers (and yes, I own a pair.)
Me and Dave (and Buster) go way back. I've only been there a handful of times, since it is in Providence, and I do live in Africa, but every time has been amazing in its own, special way. In 6th grade, I went there for my birthday party with 3 guys who are my bros to this day. Last summer I went once more. There have been other, still awesome, yet less memorable visits. But tonight was a trip I definitely won't forget.
Last week, Drew, Sean and I attempted to pay a visit to this haven of delight, but alas, someone had rented the entire joint out for a party. When we came in and were handed a power card, then offered some hor d'oeuvres on a platter, the little red light went on. The place's got class, but not that much. We asked the guy at the counter to charge the "empty" cards, and he replied "Oh, that's more than you're ever gonna need." Now, looking back at it from his perspective, telling 3 teenage guys that they hold in their hand more credit than they could spend from 7-12 p.m. makes me incredibly curious as to how much was on the cards, but we handed them back and sheepishly walked out when they realized we had no idea what was going on.
Tonight, however, luck was on our side. We also called beforehand to make sure they were open, so I'm sure that helped too. We entered the premises, smelling burgers, fries, and over used buttons. How I love that smell. It may be because I know I'm sentenced to 2 years of "feces and sand" smell, but I paused and took it in for a few seconds. Marvelous. Needless to say though, we soon got our freshly-charged power cards (thank you, Mrs. Latham!) and headed into the wilderness of flashing lights and loud noises.
It was even better than I remembered. With additions like "Guitar Hero Arcade" and "Rambo," combined with old classics like "Tower of Power" and "Time Crisis 3," we had more than enough contenders to spend our night on. After about an hour of the fun shoot-em-ups and racing games, we felt it was time to get down to business and start bringing home the bacon with some ticket-spitters. Our old favorite, "Tower of Power" was up and running as always, with some "Cyclone" and even a round of "Deal or No Deal" to mix things up, but it wasn't until we saw the "Spin n' Win" that things really got crazy. An average jackpot for "Tower" Is a little higher than 250, with 10 tickets if you're just a wee bit off. "Spin n' Win," however, though it was 3 times the cost, had a max put out of a whopping 1000 tickets, with 20 if you miss by one measly lightbulb. "It can't be beaten," we thought, "No one must ever get the big one." We literally chuckled the first time we saw it. But after dispersing for a few minutes, and a few rounds of Guitar Hero with an awesome employee, I saw Drew run over from his throne on "Tower of Power." Sure enough, after but two tries, Sean had done it. It puked papery gold for five minutes straight. For the rest of the night, we rotated between the three, gladly spending the outgrageous 9.8 credits for a chance to hit that green lightbulb.
In the end, Drew won twice. I won twice. Sean won 4 times. Fists were pounded, highs were fived, chests were bumped, and manly yells were yelled manlyly. We walked, victorious, into that big glass room to spend our 11,202 tickets, more enough to buy an Xbox 360 game, and we walked out with some mighty fine loot. Mine alone were as follows:
-A giant Dave & Buster's novelty pen (to replace the one that broke this year)
-A Dave & Buster's shot glass
-A Dave & Buster's miniature glass mug
-A Dave & Buster's glass cup
-A Dave & Buster's pair of flip flops- now I have incentive to wear flip flops
-A Red Sox deck of cards
-2 big cups of Tootsie Rolls
-and 4 or 5 things that are going to be gifts* if I don't decide I want to eat them/like them too much to part with them/not eat them by the time I give them away.
So, all in all, a fantastic night. If you ever get a chance, make sure to drop by this one of a kind (excluding the others in the chain,) magical place.
-Will
*If you know me, don't get too excited. Even if you're a chosen one, they're not amazing gifts. Except that they're from Dave & Buster's.
"Tigers love pepper... they hate cinnamon."
