Mechanical Memories Magazine

Editorial
Hello, and here we are at last with the April issue. It's been a hectic few months for
me, having had about a dozen machines to get up and running, plus tons of work to get
done at the arcade, all to get ready for the Easter school holidays. Was it all worth it?
Well, to be honest, I can't help feeling it's been a total waste of time -yes, once again
I've had a crap Easter at Brighton. The last couple of years have been difficult, to say
the least. The general economic climate has left punters, particularly families, with
less money to spend on non-essentials like a day out at the seaside. Fewer people have
been visiting, and those that do, are not spending. So the last thing I needed was a kick
in the teeth from Brighton council.
As some of you may know, Brighton has a Green MP. What I didn't know until
recently, is that these Green loonies have infiltrated the local council. In a bid to cut
car usage and force people onto public transport, these planet-saving, vegetarian
maniacs have hiked the seafront parking charge to £20 a day (no, that's not one of my
typo errors - £20 a day). Brilliant! Now, if you had just paid an arm and a leg to fill
the car with petrol to take your family for a day out at Brighton, what would you do
when confronted with an invitation to splash out twenty quid just to park? Of course,
you'd turn the car round and go somewhere else. And will these punters arrive by train
next time? Of course not, they'll just drive somewhere else. As we progress through
the season, the effect will snowball, so that come August, Brighton will be deserted.
Saving the planet matters, but so do people. When the miss-guided policies of
these idealistic pricks effect people's livelihoods, I get angry. This isn't just about me
and my little old penny arcade; thousands of traders and their employees earn a living
on Brighton' s sea front. As a result of the aforementioned economic situation, many of
us were struggling anyway; this latest kick in the teeth could be the last straw for
many. The sad part for me, is that there could well be an additional 50 - 100 lots in the
Coventry auction this year. Thanks for nothing Brighton.
I know you all look forward to my moaning, and the good news is I have something
else to moan about! But as I've run out of space, it will have to wait till next month.
Jerry
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