I live in Seattle, so a few days ago I sat down on the floor with my 4 month old and we talked about the pros and cons of each candidate and initiative, then filled out my ballot and mailed it in.

Not that being dead ever stopped Chicago residents from participating in the electoral process.

C’mon man, that’s not fair. Sox fans can’t write.

On the bright side, they missed out on this election too

What a well written article about a truly tragic story. Thanks for this.

I didn’t grow up with a lot of money. I vividly remember my dad coming home after work with a ticket for SMB3 to surprise my siblings and I, then us heading to TRU to redeem it. Our parents let us hook the NES up to the “big” 27" living room tv to play it that evening. I still think about what they went without to…

I remember going to get donkey kong country 3 but they were either sold out or too expensive so I ended up getting super star wars instead

Ahh yes.. the booth! I worked at TRU from the end of 1995 up until 2007 or so as a Ticket writer (the guy tasked with printing up & managing all those yellow & blue tickets!) and then in the R-Zone. Loved the big glass display case in aisle 1B too... remember getting to unbox all the latest hardware to display in…

I miss that feeling of anticipation. It’s just not the same as watching a progress bar for a download. I guess you could do the same thing at EB Games/GameStop, but that would require going into an EB Games/GameStop.

Ah, the Ticket Wall:

The only difference between your experience and mine is that I was buying Atari cartridges (2600 & 7800).

I remember doing that at Costco and getting Battletoads instead of Megaman. Was so excited. WORST buyer’s regret I’ve ever had.

Guy who wrote this here.

I remember looking for a PS3 (FIVE HUNDRED NINETY NINE US DOLLARS!) around Christmas time. I went to TRU and they had tickets laying in the slip for the console. I was with a buddy and we both grabbed one. “Yeah, right. They don’t have any. A guy can dream, though.”

As a kid in the 80's, the great wall of video game flaps was one of my greatest memories. Trying to make a decision and selecting the 1-2 paper tags was an awesome experience.

I miss that, too! I also miss those old kiosks that would play videos of certain games when you pressed the button for it.

I hated it when there were too many tickets but not enough games. That happened to me with Super Mario Bros. 3 and it was a wild goose chase but I finally got it for my birthday.

Really excited to read this when I’m not at work, but felt compelled to raise a Toys “R” Us tangent:

Online multiplayer. Very few of my friends play games these days, and I have no interest in playing with strangers.

That was a good analysis of pain and growth. As a parent, it’s difficult to walk that fine line you described — obviously, if your child is going to put his hand on a red-hot cooking element, you pull their hand away, but if they’re tottering on the edge of their bed reaching for something and a fall onto the ground…