I’ve been nostalgic before on CI. I’ve talked about break dancing, stalling my sister’s Trans Am in the middle of an intersection, and even a family vacation. Brace yourself. I’m about to get nostalgic again.
A quarter. Twenty-five cents. At this point in time, they’re not worth a whole lot, but back in the 80’s these things were golden. They would get you one play on a video game! I remember saving up a handful of quarters and then I’d walk up the street to Grand Central where they would be guaranteed to have several of the latest video games to play. Games like Spy Hunter, Tron, and my favorite, Karate Champ.
Image by vxdigital
Most of my quarters went to Karate Champ. It came out around the time of Karate Kid, which made every kid in America want to start taking karate. (Yes, I actually did take karate for a bit.) I loved this game. Sometimes I would just find a quarter lying around the house and I would head up the road as if going to my dealer.
The largest draw to playing the game was watching my initials advance in the rankings. After hours of playing, I discovered a move that was relatively unbeatable, much like the crane kick. In fact, I even flipped the game (beat the highest level, so I started again at the first). And, in one of my greatest life achievements, my initials were #1 for several weeks on end!
In some ways it’s been difficult for me to consider posting this story. Because it is a story of success, I began to fear that I was going to come off conceited. I think it’s a problem we have in society that we can only talk about our weaknesses and challenges. With such a focus on those, it’s no wonder we are so depressed and anxious.
So I started it–I bucked the system a bit. Now it’s your turn. In the comments, share the greatest childhood achievement you had! Go!
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