The Ms. Pac-Man Lounge

Our Venerable Ms. Pac-Man Machine

For years, the Ms. Pac-Man machine at the front of the store has served as a refuge for drug-along children (and some husbands) of quilters and seamstresses as they besiege the store to exercise their creativity with fabrics.

Although it's never been given a formal name, the small "waiting area" offers magazines as well as the electric allure of a bow-topped mega mouth who gobbles up electronic dots at a rate that would make some champion hot dog eaters blush.

The machine, at first, offered Dads and Moms a nostalgic window from which to perch and share memories with their offspring of pizza parlors with similar table-top video games that they frequented as children . But the machine has been there so long, and entertained so many children, that we're finding younger adults with small children getting nostalgic about it simply because they played it at our store while their moms shopped for fabric.

The Ms. Pac-Man machine not only has become a staple of our store, it's become an institution in the Orlando area. We're proud that it's sparked so many warm memories of childhood and has crossed generations with its simple appeal.

And it's not going anywhere anytime soon, so rest assured that it will remain a touchstone of childhood for children who only now first experience the simple pleasure of mazes and ghosts. Although she doesn't run as smoothly as she used to, she still gets the job done by keeping the kids busy so Mom and Dad can shop. Or, for that matter, it can keep Dad and the kids busy while Mom shops.

So the next time you visit the store, be sure to check out the Ms. Pac-Man lounge at the front of the store (there, I just gave it a name), and maybe take a stroll down memory lane and take the old girl for a whirl.