An Afternoon at the Arcade

Jack and I spent an afternoon at a local arcade this week. It started as a simple plan to get out of the house, but it ended up being one of those small moments that stays with you longer than you expect.

Arcades have changed since I was his age. They’re brighter now, louder, and built around tickets instead of tokens. But the basic idea is the same. You move from game to game, trying to win just enough to trade for something you don’t actually need. In that way, nothing has changed at all.

Mark Edgington and his son at an arcade

I tried a few of the games with him and learned quickly that teenagers have an unfair advantage in anything requiring fast reaction times. He beat me at most of the games we played together.

The best part was watching him move from machine to machine with that mix of concentration and excitement. He wasn’t thinking about school or schedules or anything else. He was just there, in the moment, doing something he enjoyed. There’s a clarity in that kind of focus that adults lose without meaning to.

The time together and the steady conversations between games were a quiet reminder that afternoons with my son are simply the best.

— Mark Edgington

This article also appears onhttps://medium.com/@markedgington , where you can learn more about Mark Edgington’s ongoing work.