Play Meter

hH Walk a mile in their shoes formerneighbor n e i g h b o rmoved movedto t oNew NewOrleans O r l e a n s isi s o j u s t p u t up w i t h t h ecold c o l d w h i l e r u n n i n g yyformer tot just put up with the while running f r o m M o n t a n a . D u r i n g o n e o f o u r f r e q u e n t r e g o ‑ b e t w e e n y o u r c a r a n d w h e r e v e r y o u from Montana. During one of our frequent between your car and wherever you're go1 0 0 ‑ y e a r ‑ f l o o d s，she s h ecame cameover o v e rshaking s h a k i n g "100-year-floods," h e r head o v e r t h e i n c o n v e n i e n c e , t h e v i g i l o f her head over the inconvenience, the vigil of w a t c h i n g w h e t h e r w a t e r w o u l d a c t u a l l y watching whether water would actually come i n t o t h e h o u s e , and b e i n g s t u c k i n d o o r s come into the house, and being stuck indoors f o r s e v e r a l d a y s s i m p l y b e c a u s e a l l r o a d for several days simply because all roadss were i m p a s s a b l e. were impassable. I c a n t b e l i e v erain r a i ncould c o u l dcause c a u s eso s odarn darn "I can't believe s h eexclaimed. e x c l a i m e d ."When When was muchtrouble," t r o u b l e，she much II was d w a t c h t h e s t i l l i n M o n t a n a , w h e n e v e r I still in Montana, whenever I'd watch the n e w s a b o u t f l o o d i n g i n t h e S o u t h , I n e v e news about flooding in the South, I neverr hadmuch muchsympathy sympathybeb e ‑ had ~idn’t a n d c o u l d n c a u s e I cause I didn't and couldn'tt i m a g i n e what t was l i k e， like," was iti what imagine s h e a d d e d a s s h e s t e p p e d she added as she stepped o f f o f h e r p o r c h i n t o t h e off of her porch into the k n e e ‑ h i g hw a t e rt os c o o p knee-high water to scoop u p a n i c e c h e s t f l o a t i n up an ice chest floatingg t p田 . past. S hecasually c a s u a l l ywaved wavedto t o She o u r o t h e r n e i g h b o r s p a d our other neighbors pad-‑ d l i n gdown downthe t h eroad r o a din i n dling t h e i r c a n o e , a s k e d t h e m t o their canoe, asked them to p i c kup upaaloaf l o a fof o f b r e a dif i f bread pick t h e ymade madeiti tto t oaastore, s t o r e, they andcontinued c o n t i n u e d h e r d i s s e r ‑ and her dissert a t i o n a b o u t h o w s h e j u s tation about how she justt n e v e r r e a l l y u n d e r s t o o d. never really understood. T h e n I m a d e t h e m i s ‑ Then I made the mis討c e o f s a y i n g t h a t i t m u s t , t take of saying that it must, n f a c t , have been heaven ini fact, have been heaven t o l i v e s o m e w h e r e know‑ to live somewhere knowi n g t h a t f l o o d e d s t r e e t s , ing that flooded streets, V a l e r i e C o g n e v i c h s o g g y c a r s , a n d e v e n a n o c c a s i o n a l f l o o d e Valerie Cognevich soggy cars, and even an occasional floodedd c o n c e r n s . h o u s e were n o t p r i m出 yconcerns. were not primary E d i t o r house Editor B u t t h e n s h e b e g a n t e l l i n g m a b o u t t h e But then she began telling meeabout the h a r s h, b r u t a lwinters w i n t e r sshe s h eendured enduredin i nMonMon‑ harsh, brutal t a n a .This T h i stime t i m eiti twas wasmy myturn t u r nto t osay s a ythat t h a tII tana. t u n d e r s t a n d . S h e t o l d m e o f h o o k ‑ t r u l y d i d n truly didn't understand. She told me of hookd s t a r t i n g c a r s u p t o h e a t i n g d e v i c e s s o t h e y ing cars up to heating devices so they'd start n t h e m o r n i n g . Her d e s c r i p t i o nof o f b u n d l i n g ini the morning. Her description bundling u p w i t h u n d e r s h i r t s , t h i c k d o w n c o a t s , i n s u up with undershirts, thick down coats, insu-‑ l a t e d g l o v e s , f a c e s h i e l d s , wool s o c k s , and f u r ‑ lated gloves, face shields, wool socks, and furl i n e d b o o t s j u s t t o w a l k t o t h e m a i l b o x lined boots just to walk to the mailbox b r o u g h t l o o k f d i s b e l i e f o my e y e s . brought aa look ofo disbelief tot my eyes. H e r e s h e w a s t a l k i n g t o a N e w O r l e a n i a n , Here she was talking to a New Orleanian, w h o h a d t o b u y a c o a t t o g o t o L o n d o n l a s who had to buy a coat to go to London lastt おa nd g l o v e s and J a n u a r y ! S u r e , we have c o a January! Sure, we have coats and gloves and t h e w e a t h e r m a y o c c a s i o n a l l y g e t b e l ow the weather may occasionally get below s n o t a 仕e q u e n t h a p p e n i n g . I n f r e e z i n g , b u t i t freezing, but it's not a frequent happening. In f a c t .sometimesyouhavet os t o pandt h i n fact. sometimes you have to stop and thinkk a b o u t w h e t h e r you h a v eon on t h eair a i r c o n d i t i o n ‑ about whether you have the conditione r o r t h e h e a t e r . ( O h y e a , a i r c o n d i t i o n i n g i er or the heater. (Oh yea, air conditioning inn I ts Montana sapparently a p p a r e n t l ynot n o taanecessity!) n e c e s s i t y ! )It's Montana isi u s u a l l ymoret r o u b l et of i n dy o u rc o a tt h a ni t usually more trouble to find your coat than it PLAY METER PLAY METER mH h悶 s m ω a ae a bmv− eaau E ＼ M 削 mhM ・−且冒・・ ・ FROM THE EDITOR 88 i n g . ing. s a y i n g t h a t e v ‑ B ut h e r e my n e i g h b o r w出 saying But here my neighbor was that eve r y t r i p o u t d u r i n g t h o s e b i t t e r M o n t a n a w i n ‑ ery trip out during those bitter Montana wine l p t e r sp r e s e n t e dac h a l l e n g e. Shec o u l d nth ters presented ah challenge. She couldn't help b u t l a u g h a t t e t i m e a b o u t f i v e y e a r s a g o but laugh at the time about five years ago whenthe t h eentire e n t i r ecity c i t yof o fNew NewOrleans O r l e a n sshut s h u t when 出 ab l a n k e t o f s n o w c o v ‑ d o w n w h e n t h e r e w down when there was a blanket of snow cove r i n gthe t h eground! g r o u n d !II rememberediti ttoo, t o o, b e ‑ ering remembered bec a u s e i t t o o k me n e a r l y e i g h t h o u r s t o g e cause it took me nearly eight hours to gett 仕om w o r k ! homefrom home work! J u s t l i k e o u r i n d u s t r y ,things t h i n g salways a l w a y slook l o o k Just like our industry, r e o n t h e o t h e r s i d e o f t h e d i f f e r e n t w h e n y o u different when you're on the other side of the f e n c e . D u r i n g s e m i n a r t t h eFun Fun Expolast l a s t fence. During aa seminar ata the Expo y e a r ,awomanwhowasp l a n n i n ganFEC year, a woman who was planning an FEC s t a t e dthat t h a tshe s h ewas wasgoing g o i n gtot o buy herown own stated buy her 川市y g a m e s i n s t e a d o f u s i n g a n o p e r a t o r . games instead of using an operator. "Why s h o u l d s h a r e my money w i t h someone who should II share my money with someone who o ‑ j u s tcomesi nt oc o l l e c tt h ec a s hb o x ?Im g just comes intto collect the cash box? I'm goh ee x c l a i m e d . i n gt ok e e pi a l l！ s keep it all!" she exclaimed. ing to ~entleman whoh adalready a l r e a d yopened openedhis h i s AAgentleman who had FEC J U S t shook h i s head and t o l d h e r t h a t t FEC just shook his head and told her that iti W 出 nt a s e a s y a s i t l o o k s . W h a t a r e y o u g o ‑ wasn't as easy as it looks. "What are you goe i n g ̲ t odo do w i t h y o u rolder o l d e r gameswhen when your ing to with your games you're ？he heposed. posed. 羽 市a t h a p ‑ f i m s h e dwith w i t hthem?" them finished "What happ e n si fyoubuyagameandyourc u s t o m e r s pens if you buy a game and your customers l i k e i t ? Do you know how much money dont don't like it? Do you know how much money 政 et o b u y n e w g a m e s o n a r e g u l a r b a ‑ i t w i l l t it will take to buy new games on a regular baつDontyour e a l i z et h a tyouhaveal o to s i s sis? Don't you realize that you have a lot off h a v eto t oworry w o r r yabout? a b o u t ? And o t h e r t h i n g s youIhave other things you'll And ？ w h a t a b o u t r e p a i r s what about repairs?" S t u n n e d , s h e r e p l i e d， Get r i d f them? I m Stunned, she replied, "Get rid ofo them? I'm n o tp l a n n i n gonb u y i n gnewgamesf o ral o n not planning on buying new games for a longg t i m e .By Bythen t h e nI'll I ' l lhave havemade madeall a l lmy mymoney money time. b a c k a n d t h e n s o m e . I ' l l h a v e m o r t h a n back and then some. I'll have moreethan enought obuy buyaabunch bunchof o fnew newstuff. s t u f f .I've Iv e to enough heardthat t h a t t h e gamesare a r every v e r yreliable, r e l i a b l e ,so s oII heard the games t t h i n k r e p 包r s w i l l b e a p r o b l e m . I I j u s t d o n don't think repairs will be a problem. I'll just a t t a c h a n o u t ‑ o f ‑ o r d e r s i g n a n d t h e n w h e n attach an out-of-order sign and then when II haveseveral s e v e r a l games t h a t need w o r k ,I'll I ' l l j u s t have games that need work, just c a l l a r e p a i r m a n . call a repairman." A l lof o f u sknew knewright r i g h tthen t h e nand andthere t h e r ethat t h a t All us s h e w a s n o t g o i n g t o b e o n e o f t h e s u r v i v o r s she was not going to be one of the survivors i n t h e FECchallenge. c h a l l e n g e . in the FEC 出 yb e c a u s ean a nopo p ‑ G r a n t e d , i t d o e s l o o keasy e Granted, it does look because s d o i n g ; i t s h i s j o b ! H e e r a t o r k n o w s w h a t h e erator knows what he's doing; it's his job! He 出s e ,the t h etechnicians, t e c h n i c i a n s, t h emoney money h a sthe t h eexpertise, e x p e has the t obuynewe q u i p m e n t ,andt h el o c a t i o n st to buy new equipment, and the locations too r o t a t e t h e o l d e r p i e c e s . O p e r a t i n g g a m e rotate the older pieces. Operating gamess l o o k e d s oeasy e a s y t o t h eFEC FECwoman. woman.But But t h e n looked so to the then e j u s ta b o u ta n , Y t h i n gcanl o o ke a s yi fyour just about anything can look easy if you're on d a i l y b a s i s . n o t d e a l i n g w i t h not dealing with it此on aa daily basis. keept h i n k i n ga b o u thowe a s yIt h o u g h t II keep thinking about how easy I thought i t w o u l d b e t o l i v e i n M o n t a n a , e v e n d u r i n g it would be to live in Montana, even during t h e w i n t e r！企 the winter! MAY 1 9 9 6 MAY 1996