Crane Giftedness

You know those goofy cranes that you see in malls, some restaurants (like Chuck E. Cheese) and game rooms?

They look like this.

I hate those things. They are money pits. The claws never seem to grab onto anything and the prizes are usually pretty nasty. But once you start you keep thinking you can get something and you keep wasting 50 cents trying.

Unless you are Carys.

Carys has always loved those cranes and she has a gift of grabbing the prizes.

In January we were with my girlfriends parents. One day we went to the mall and I saw one of those dumb crane games. I tried to go a different way but the crane was right in front of the store we needed to enter. I knew what Carys would do when she saw the crane and she did. She saw it and asked for 50 cents to play.

I said no. She PROMISED she would win something. I said no. She PROMISED she would pay me back. I said no. She PROMISED she wouldn't bug any more if she could just play it one time.

So we let her play ONE time. She won. Her brothers saw her skill and asked for a toy.

She ended up playing three times. This is what happened.

That's right. Three plays and three toys. A Wolverine doll, a teddy bear and some kind of squishy purple ball.

Granted the toys weren't "top of the line" but with Carys it's more about the thrill of winning instead of the quality of the prize.

Maybe I should let her play more often. She alone could run the crane games out of business. Then I wouldn't have to see them anymore.

For now, I'll keep trying to hold on to 50 cents and marvel at Carys' ability to beat the scamming crane business as she weasels the 50 cents out of my pocket.