My Instead: My grandson
Tyler and I went to Heroic Adventures Comic Book Store in Edwardsville,
Illinois.
It was 6th
grade physical time for my grandson Tyler. His mom, my daughter Robin, needed
some help getting him to the doctor for his 1:30 appointment. I was busy in the
morning with work and had a retirement planning meeting in Edwardsville in
the late afternoon, but I promised her that I would squeeze it into my day.
Tyler and I made it to
the doctor’s office just a few minutes late, but don’t worry…the doctor was not
pacing the floor waiting for our arrival. In fact, I had to plead
with the staff to try to get us through quickly because we had to be in Edwardsville
by 3:00. Needless to say, we were not punctual for that appointment. Nevertheless,
my retirement planning meeting went off without a hitch, despite our late
arrival…and Tyler was a complete gem sitting in on all that boring financial
stuff. I guess I was a gem too.
Now it was our time! While
looking for a restaurant in a strip mall, we discovered a comic book and game
store called Heroic Adventures. Tyler was interested and I was, well, NOT. But…I was
open to doing something different, “instead” of the usual. Who knew where this
“heroic adventure” could lead!
There were a lot of
hero-type plastic figures, ranging from Superman, to Spiderman and all the
freaky creatures in between. Tyler had his heart and my pocketbook set on one
of them in particular. Don’t ask me which one because they all looked pretty
similar…and so did their price tag. The one he wanted was $25. Ouch! Seriously?
I gave my usual monologue “Do you know how hard I work for my money?” And “Do
you know what else we can do or get with $25?” And “I know just where this super
hero will end up…strewn somewhere on the floor in your bedroom.” The answer was
no. I am not that grandma.
While perusing the rest
of the store, we observed two young men playing a board
game called Carcassone. Never heard of it. It looked to me like a cross between
the game of Risk and Dominos. There was a strategy to the
game, but it was nothing that appealed to me. I am more of an “interactive game”
kind of gal, like Pictionary, Charades, Catch Phrase, etc. Games that
get the blood moving, along with the brain. Speaking of interactive though,
these two gentleman were very forthcoming about explaining the object of the
game and even telling us a little bit about themselves!
Overall, the
experimental “let’s see if Grandma can get into this” venture left something to
be desired. Let’s face it, a game and comic book store would not be my first
choice for a fun evening out. However, it was not a total loss…I did enjoy the
interactive play with the “game boys”.
Getting back to Tyler
though…he was not happy with my “no” to his super hero purchase, but he did get
over it and the night was spent happily at my home with pizza and a movie. Total
cost? $25…go figure. But as the commercial says, priceless!
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