Last week, I came upon this youtube via a friend on Facebook. I love to celebrate the imagination of kids, and it came warmly recommended, so I clicked on the arrow and sat back. It's a sweet story: a boy creates an arcade from old boxes his dad has around the auto parts shop he owns. Before life became so innundated with technology, this was a common enough past time for a lot of kids. I remember keeping large boxes from appliances for our children to build forts from. Growing up, my husband once had an entire city block in his back yard. Then it was timed for a "controlled burn" - you can imagine perhaps his mother's response.
Caine's arcade is complete with games, tickets, prizes and even a $2.00 fun pass. The only problem is business. That's when technology in the forms of short films and social media comes to the rescue. A kindly passerby is intrigued by Caine's project and after a fun pass' worth of games asks if he can make a movie of the Arcade. Along the way he decides to create an "event" so more people can see what Caine's been up to. He invites all of South Los Angeles to stop by. You'll see what happens in the video.
I think what I love most about this piece is its blend of old-fashioned creativity and kindness with new-fangled social media. What's great about living now doesn't have to be in conflict with the good old days. This video shows how we can combine the best of both those worlds and have a lot of fun along the way.
