Milagros

Portland is blessed with a plethora of second run movie theaters. Generally you can enjoy a “not so fresh” movie for $3 or less per person. A few have other bonuses such as food and beer.

Our local bargain theatre is the Kennedy School. However kids are only welcome at the matinees and there only a few each week. One theatre that always has films that cater to children - if not families- and no shortage of movie times is the Avalon Theater.

We went to Avalon today to see Charlotte’s Web. The movie was well done and did not stray from E.B. White’s book. I enjoyed it but I did keep expecting to hear Paul “Center Square” Lynde’s sneerings whenever Templeton opened his mouth…

Although the Avalon is a little worse for wear and the popcorn is stale, it still a good deal all in all. In addition to movies, the Avalon has a plethora of games to play which are bargain priced, only costing 1 - 4 nickels per play. We decided to play some games after the movie and that’s when things got a little strange….

Unfortunately the game room and a four year old aren’t a good fit. Many of the games are violent. The less violent games - driving, dancing, biking, etc. - aren’t sized for a small child (pedals are too far away on driving games for instance). They have “bowling games” but Mila doesn’t quite have the skills together for those yet.

So what’s left? Basically, games where you spin wheels, drop or roll nickels, and the like in hopes of winning as many coupons as possible. The coupons can be traded for a variety of “prizes.” At first, these games seemed fine and Mila was having a good time. But then she started having TOO good a time…

At some point Mila’s enthusiasm for “winning more tickets!” took a strange turn for me. Suddenly I was imagining her in a smoke-filled room, comfortably seated in front of a slot machine with a big plastic cup of coins and a fanny pack full of PowerBars, her hand feeds coin after coin into the one-armed bandit, her eyes are fixed to the machine’s screen, all emotion is focused and reserved, her entire purpose being to seek out an elusive jackpot.

After being thunder-struck by this image, I encouraged Mila to play pinball with me. Do you want to play pinball with Papa? Sure!…but once she realized no tickets would be coming out of the machine, she lost interest…Oh my God! My child’s a gambling addict! Is there a support group for this?

Anyhoo….I am probably overreacting - a bit. Still, I think we will be shying away from the Avalon’s game room (or should I say gaming room?) and sticking to the movies for the time being. Peace.