Ah, the promised land is upon us again: the three-day weekend. The land of milk and honey, the land of getting an extra day free from the slavery we suffer through in order to pay bills for stuff we no longer have, the land where you can almost feel like you're more than a corporate drone in the great machine that makes the rich richer and delivers the rest of us products and services that we never thought we needed.
God, do I hate my job.
Actually I think I just hate working, period. No, that's not so true either - I'd love to work if I were doing something I really enjoyed, I just haven't found that job yet. My very first real paying job was the closest I've ever come to true happiness in the workplace: I worked as an attendant in a video arcade. Now keep in mind that I was all of fifteen years old, I think, and this was during the arcade boom of the early eighties. We had state-of-the-art entertainment like Ms. Pac Man, Phoenix, Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong 3...it was a high-tech paradise in the middle of backwards DeLand, Florida. And I got to come in one day every weekend and open up the place, making change and handing out tokens. I would even come in early, something I haven't done with a job since...but then again, coming in early here meant that I'd be able to use the little stash of free tokens the owner would leave me and play games before opening up the place. The job didn't pay very well but to a nerdling such as myself it was a slice of heaven.
Of course, these days you'd be lucky to find an arcade worth stepping into, much less working at. To Central Florida's credit we actually have a few good ones around here but really, it's just not the same anymore, what with gaming consoles pushing out gaming experiences which rival or even beat those you can find in arcades, although there are still great gaming experiences out there to be had. Personally I've always been in love with the more immersive games, i.e. racing and other simulation-type games, as without spending a couple hundred dollars you're not going to be able to duplicate that experience at home. Truth be told, however, I really don't go into arcades as much anymore. I guess it's that self-consciousness you get when you're in your mid-thirties playing games in an arcade surrounded by kids less than half your age with more than twice your skill. Despite the cries of "The Death of the Arcade" spouted for the last ten years I don't see them going away anytime soon. Which, to me, is a good thing.
Now I want to go home and play some videogames. What a life.