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- JHE LAST WORD Looking to the stars for help I got a call recently from an inquisitive financial consulant. It seemed that one of his clients was interested in entering the coin-op industry, and he wanted to crunch some numbers . "Someone told me that your industry grosses over $7 billion annually; is that true?" he asked. I told him it was. He was genuinely taken aback. "But if it's true, that makes the coin-op industry bigger than the motion picture industry in terms of gross r evenue," he said. "That's very inter esting. Well, thanks for your time. Goodbye." As I reflected on our brief conver sation, it struck me that yes, it is very interesting: we are bigger than the movies! Oh, I'm sure it helps that their revenues are held back by the release of such pap as Ho ward the Duck and Return to Blue Lagoon . Still, bigger is bigger, no matter how you slice it. Upon further reflection , I thought: for as big an industry as this is , we sure haven't had much luck in Washington, D.C. , with the dollar coin issue. Then again, we do things the old-fashioned wa y: we trek up to Capitol Hill to m e et with congressmen and senators (or, most likely, their staffer s). Civics teachers across the land would hail the process as a living, breathing example of representative government in action. The Founding Fathers would undoubtedly admire our tenacity. Pragmatists, though, would look at the situation and say: "They ain't gettin' the job done." If the 1993 Washington Conference doesn't help spur passage of dollar coin legislation during this session of Congress , there will be much disappointment. Industry insiders say this is our last best chance , that the time has never been riper. I disagree . There 's still the 1994 Academy Awards ceremony. All we need to do is contact Hollywood's movers and shakers and apprise them of our plight. Based on this year's show, it's certain we 'd find some sympathetic ears . Let 's fast forward to a few of the presenters at next year's ceremony. Richard Gere: "I know Premier Deng is listening, but this doesn't concern you, Deng. I want Bill Clinton! Bill, it's come to my attention that the coin machine industry has been pushing for a dollar coin for a long time . It doesn 't surprise me that the Republican administrations were lukewarm to the idea, but this is us, Bill! We're Democrats! Adopting a dollar coin and dropping the dollar bill makes so much PLAY METER 252 JUNE1993 sense. Get on the bandwagon! Now, nominated for Best Smirk by a Supporting Actor ... " Spike Lee: "Do the right thing and pass a dollar coin law! By the way, I still can't believe I've never won an Oscar." Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon: "OK, OK, we were a little out there last year by bringing up the Haitians-with-AIDS issue. But on the dollar coin issue, there can be no doubt: it will save the country $395 million annually. It's a cause we really believe in; that's why we passed out silver ribbons before the show." Demi Moore: "Just think if the $1 million I got from Robert Redford for sleeping with him had been paid in dollar coins instead of dollar bills. Think of how many trees that would spare! Think of the poor spotted owl! As a side note, did you know that was me in Indecent Proposal , not a body double? Pretty firm breasts for a woman who just gave birth, eh?" With that kind of support, how could we fail? D Christopher Caire Features Editor