At lunch on Tuesdays I wonder over to a thrift store that's mostly ran by prisoners paying their debt to society (they also grow a garden nearby). Usually looking around for electronics and video games. For as long as I've gone there this black guy with an Islander accent is there too, buying up a lot of stuff I'm interested in. And to add insult to injury he asks me for descriptions for the stuff in his hands. I'm nice and oblige, of course.

Last week though he wasn't there, and it seemed like I had my run of the place. Some of the prisoners brought in some plastic tubs of toys and I was sifting through them when I found a Color Game Boy Color game, then another, and then a third. I knew if I kept looking I'd find the little machine that would make playing these games possible, and with that thought running into my one track mind I uncovered a purple translucent Game Boy Color. I love anything Nintendo, and my instinct is always to buy whenever I come across anything I wanted as a child but couldn't get.

I took the Game Boy Color and games to the counter. I like the system they have for pricing things. The lady behind the register gives the items the stink eye for a while until she blurts out a price, I enjoy watching and trying to play along to watch what she'll say. Today she said "5 bucks" and I was fine with that. But as I was leaving I said 6 boxes near the front of the door. Turns out to be NES games still in their boxes (Silent Service, Tecmo Super Bowl, Wrestle Mania Steel Cage Challenge, Tetris, Ice Hockey, Top Gun), and I quickly put them on the counter and after another 10 second stink eye she said "dollar each."



Thinking of the games and game boy I got that day helped me through another boring Tuesday. I know I'm a nerd, but a happy nerd.