Last weekend I went to the place where I usually have breakfast on Saturday, only to find that they had just closed, during what would generally still be a busy time for them. Today I went back and the lady who runs the place and waits the tables apologized and said she had closed early because it was her son's ninth birthday. Obviously I couldn't fault her for that, temporary inconvenience aside.
Here's where it gets interesting. I asked her if they had gone anywhere. She said they took him to a video arcade.
Which, on paper, doesn't seem like it would be a big deal. Most families have a gaming console of some kind, or a computer that's game-compatible, and usually both. Plus if/when kids start carrying phones, they can download games onto that. So there's no way you have to go to a video arcade to play video games.
The conclusion I'd come to is that it survives as a social outlet. You can play anywhere. You go there to play in person with your friends.
There's a lesson there for businesses that have been declared obsolescent. And maybe for the rest of us, too.
2 comments:
What a nice story. It's funny because I read one yesterday about Luddite teens who, eschewing all things tech, prefer to meet in person (without calling to fix the time and place), no phones are best but flip phones are acceptable if necessary. It may be non-mainstream so far but it bodes of better times to come.. a trend, even?
I still remember seeing kids in the back rooms of game stores playing Dungeons and Dragons. We can always hope they'll return or, barring that, find a new place to hang out.
ps: I just read the Unherd piece about 10 terrible years of Pope Francis. He does sound pretty bad but not the worst ever by a long shot.
It's easy to diagnose contemporary teens as being screen-addicted and media saturated, and to say that they need to find some connection outside phones and the internet. It's also true, but mostly you expect to hear things like that from concerned adults. The fact that this "Luddite club" seems to have been created by youths on their own initiative is surprising and encouraging.
The D&D kids have probably found a new spot. It's a pretty durable subculture. You may see them there again if things cycle around.
The Catholic Church has a long history and I'm sure there have been worse leaders. I can't blame Catholics who aren't happy with him, though. The personal pettiness he seems to have doesn't help.
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