Claw Games

You know those machines you see in arcades (and in random places like the front of family restaurants and discount stores), where you maneuver a claw to try to grab prizes ranging from scary-looking stuffed animals to watches and electronics? Recently, my son has been obsessed with these "claw games." He watches YouTube videos of claw game aficionados (yes, people really do post those!), he shows off the assorted trinkets he has acquired in his various claw game exploits, and he bemoans the fact that the very best claw game machines are nowhere near where we live.
 
The thing about claw games is that the claw is designed to drop stuff. So, while it may pick up just what you want (or something you really don't), quite often it dangles said item just close enough for you to see and get excited about, but drops it before the item ever makes it to the delivery chute and your hands. You can practice and get better about making the claw deliver your prize, but you do so at a cost--ranging from 25 cents to a dollar and up per try, depending on the location and contents of the particular machine.
 
Like any parent who doles out money for kid activities, I caution my son over and over about believing he will ever be a big winner at the claw game. I call it a scam, a waste of his time and money. Yet, his optimism remains. He believes that he will be one of those people who wins an iPad with just a few dollar investment in claw game playing.
 
When I think about it, though, it seems to me that the claw game is really about how persistent you are when the deck is stacked against you. While I might consider the game a waste of money, I can't deny that the hope it inspires in my son may not be so terrible. After all, is it so terrible in life to believe that you can defeat the dragons? That you can succeed when the odds favor the other guy? Isn't it those battles with dragons that make us stronger?
 
My son won eleven items from the claw machine today, not necessarily because he is a claw machine prodigy, but because he went after something he wanted (passing up on other things he might have done). While it is not a talent to take him through life, perhaps it is a sign that sometimes belief and practice can get you closer to the prize.
 
This doesn't mean I'll be bankrolling the habit. I just might learn a little bit from it.