Jimmy and the Penny Arcade
Jimmy and the Penny Arcade
Of all the things I remember about Idora Park, most of all I remember the people who worked there. Some of them were very interesting characters who were fun to work with, but you were never sure what they were going to do next.
Jimmy Wellington worked at the Penny Arcade by the famous side door french fry stand. He worked there for a couple years, and he was friends with my brother.
The people who worked on the games always watched out for each other. When Jimmy worked at the Penny Arcade, I can't remember them having any problems, either with security or with machines breaking down. But then again Naze’s workshop was inside the penny arcade so that could be one of the reasons too. The back workshop was also Jimmy's make-out room.
Sometimes I went up to see him and talk to him. I’d say, “Anyone know where Jimmy is at?” You really couldn't see the workshop from the cage where the girl worked, so I’d just open the back door. But first I'd knock. Then I’d open the back door the door to the room where they worked on the machines.
One such time when I was breaking, I was talking to George and George said, “I want to take a good look at the penny arcade, see what machines they're working on. I heard that a couple machines went down, so I'm going to go out and take a look.”
I said, “Oh, really. Well, you know, I was on my way up there. I'll meet you up there.”
He said okay.
George, being a little older, walked a little slower and I got there first.
And, just as I thought, Jimmy was in the back room with the young lady.
I knocked on the door and called his name.
“What?!” he yelled.
I said, “George is on his way to look at the machines that are broken and talk to you.”
“Is he? Thanks for telling me. I'll be right out.”
Well, unfortunately, George got in there before Jimmy could get out of there with the young lady.
So, I told George there was a machine on the other side of the building that wasn't working right and I showed him which one. They gave Jimmy and his friend time to get out of the back room and get away.
This one thing about the people who work on the games they want to make sure they are the best at the game they work on. Eventually, I went down to run the Putt-Putt course, and I broke the record. No one could beat me, and that's just the way it was. You didn’t want anyone to beat you on your own game.
Jimmy's game was the bowling game. It had pins that stuck down from the top, and you’d try to knock them down with this thing that looked like a hockey puck.
In all the time that Jimmy worked there, which was a couple of years, no one had ever beaten him.
One day, I was talking to Jim and he said, “Come play me a game.”
I said, “Come on, Jim, but no one's ever beat you on this game. Goodness knows, I know my brother has tried many a time.”
He kept saying, “Come on.” And eventually, I just played. I’ll play any game.
Well, I got into the ninth frame and I thought I had him. By the tenth frame, all I had to do was get a strike and a spare and that was it—Jim would lose. My first one was a strike and then my second one was a six.
I thought, “I don't believe it! I'm going to actually beat Jim!”
And Jim's looking at me like, “I don't believe this! I'm actually going to lose.”
So, I go to take my next shot and as I just start to put my finger near the lever to take a shot, he jumps right beside me and yells, “Boo!” I hit the lever accidentally. I only got two of the four pins that I needed to make sure that I won the game.
Well, Jimmy had to get four strikes which is still a hard thing to do.
Jimmy in classic Jimmy style got all four strikes and beat me by one pin. I never came that close again playing against him.
But I really didn't mind because this was the same Jimmy who had my back the day when a robber stole the money from the Skee-Ball—but that’s another story for another day.
In the last season that Jimmy worked there, he had already graduated from high school. And in the middle of the season, he left us for a job in construction. We all missed him because of who he was and what he was like.
Although I think the girls missed him more.
Hopefully one day I'll get to see you again, Jim.