My friend Kevin Alumbaugh’s father co-owned the legendary Wonderland Arcade, a Kansas City institution. Located at 12th and Grand, it was the veritable hub of the city - it was the biggest bus transfer point, meaning that people with time to kill were always coming in to play pinball, grab a snack or whatever.

It also meant that we always had summer jobs when needed, making change, filling up the snack bar with supplies, etc. Given my current employment in the gaming industry, I have fond memories of this time - pre-”video” games, when the machines were all mechanical and pinball was still king.  Asteroids, Pac-Man and the like started the death spiral for Wonderland, as video games became a big thing in the shopping malls.