RIP Game Boy

In anticipation of our upcoming 18 hour road trip to Florida, I broke down and agreed to buy a portable video game system for my kids.

The man at the video game store put three different consoles on the counter, the least expensive of which cost $75.

My boys stared at the system that cost $200 and started to drool.

While the man told me more than I wanted to know about video game graphics, I felt my mind wander to the possibility of walking out of the store without a video game system at all.

"Don't you have anything less expensive?" I asked.

The man shook his head.

"What about that thing?" I asked, pointing to a small object on a shelf behind the counter.

"That's an old Game Boy system," the man said wrinkling his nose. "But you don't want that. A dog chewed on the outside and the screen is scratched." He held it out for me to inspect. "I just keep it around for people to test games."

"That's exactly what I want," I told the guy. "I'll take it!"

The man looked confused until I gestured to the Game Boy's new owners. One was making farting noises on his arm; the other was jumping up and down on one foot.

"I have to go to bathroom soooooooooo bad!" he cried.

The man offered to sell me the contraption for $40.00 but because of the bite wounds, I was able to talk him down to $20.

The Game Boy made it home intact. It survived the afternoon and somehow managed to live through dinner. About an hour ago, one of my sons accidentally dropped it on the driveway.

"It's all over!" they wailed in unison.

"I only got to play it once before it broke!" cried the twin that didn't drop the Game Boy on the driveway.

My only regret? Not buying the $200 console.