Lillian Martin: Arcade Magic

Lights blink excitedly all around me, begging me to come up and give them some long-awaited attention. All of the machines stand at full attention, waiting to perform for their modest but long enthralled audience. They are old but proud in their ability to still function and they want nothing more than to do exactly what they were built for.  Some only blink while some play a pleading, plucky tunes over each other. The air tastes of a lingering sweetness like childhood that the salty sea air will not ever be able to wash away. The longer I am here, the more the sun and sea give way so the artificial lights can have their stage and the coins can sing their jingle. The longer I am here, the more I don’t know if I would ever want to leave.

Magical, meaningful places like this come around maybe once or twice every few years and it always hits you like a brick – a good brick. Almost always unexpected, these findings aren’t easy to scout out on our own. We must happen upon them in a way that some of us might find hard. If you like to plan or it drives you insane to not have a set direction to follow, these experiences become even rarer. Learning how to let go of your precious schedules opens up these experiences to you and, as I can attest, you’ll never look back.

I had to start learning to let go while I was attending the University of Winchester in the fall of 2016. It was a weekend that I had specifically set aside for exploring because I hadn’t been able to fit it in between my Netflix binges (complete with take-out) even though the end of my trip was fast approaching. I could no longer, on good conscious, sit in my room. So, I made plans. A wake-up time, a breakfast time, a leave time, etc.… all the way down to a bedtime and all the way down to anticipated walking times! Abiding by all of my “times”, I was sitting pretty peachy up to my arrival in Portsmouth, England. I was to head to the aquarium and be entirely through it by lunchtime.

Little did I know, plans should also include directions! My phone provided little help thanks to international data so that was it – my plans were toast.

At this very moment, while my plans were being toasted to a crispy, charred mess, I had a choice. I could, as I normally would, get upset about my plans falling through, or I could choose to let it go and enjoy my one day out in spite of my flop. Thankfully, I didn’t choose the tantrum – no one was around to hear it anyway. All that I could to do now was wander off – and that’s what I did. I enjoyed listening to the sea on my right so I walked as much along the shore as possible, letting the sea breezes kick the hair into my face. It was as majestic as a hair-slapping breeze could be. 

 

Eventually, after a couple of interesting shopping centers and (what seemed like) hundreds of town-house-style apartments, the concrete sidewalk faded into hardwood boardwalk. I found myself just yards away from the ebbing sea and a rocky beach that made my feet hurt just looking at it. On the other side of me was something quite unexpected. There was a giant, old, nostalgic arcade. The coin slots and open doors caught my attention immediately.

Tentatively, I stuck my head inside to make sure I didn’t get my hopes up before finding out it was shut down. Despite its dusty exterior, it was still operational; What was more, the entire arcade was one or two teens away from being entirely empty.   

I couldn’t have been more excited and for the rest of the day and I stayed just as enchanted. With so few people around, I got the luxury of feeling as though each machine was waiting for me personally. With all of the machines using real money as currency, there were no confusing cards or brand-specific tokens. I could get rid of jingling pocket change that I was going to do absolutely nothing else with.

It was a nostalgic paradise that I spent an entire day reveling in. The experience lasted all day but also no more than a few minutes. By sunset, my wallet and stomach were thinking the same thing – empty. It was time to go home in a way that was bittersweet but satisfying. On my walk back, reflecting on my day to drown out the stomach growls, I realized that no set of perfectly timed plans could have given me that rush or that pride in finding something so magical on my own. People had told me how exciting exploring on your own was but having the safety of set plans was irresistible. That day made me realize that safety is not always all it is cracked up to be and that letting it go can mean an unforgettable experience.

This experience belongs to Lillian Martin. She did her breakaway at the University of Winchester in England in the fall of 2016 as a junior Computer Information Services major. She plans to graduate in the spring of 2020 and peruse a carrier in cyber security.