3. We Hate Giving You Four Quarters
I once had a couple come in, probably around the ages of 43 and 41, who were immediately attracted to our electronic games. They walked over, plunked some quarters in, and made idiots of themselves trying to win a PSP in a machine designed to make you feel adopted. Then, they pulled out a dollar, walked over to me, and asked, "Can we get four quarters?" I politely pointed to the coin machine next to all the games and told them that they could get as many quarters as they desired from that device. They thanked me and went to work. For an hour and a half. After that time (I can't imagine how much money they spent on losing), they returned to me with three dollars (12 precious quarters) and asked me for quarters. "Well, that machine over there--" "It's out." "It's out?" "Yeah, it won't take our money anymore." "Ah. That's, uh...ah." And I began to give them 12 quarters. But see, when you give a mouse a cookie, he's bound to ask for milk. I'm hoping that applies here and helps illuminate the point that these people returned to me, time and time again, asking for quarters. I soon felt intimate enough with these people to tell them I thought they had a gambling problem and that I was cutting them off. Of course, I realized that after they had succeeded in taking all of my quarters. I was quickly absconded by another employee who gently told me that, "Being that stupid will get you fired." Noted.