Every year we try to impress upon our impressionable children that the "games of skill" at the county fair are really just a rip off.

We try reason:

"You spend more trying to win the prize than the prize is worth."

We try bribes alternatives:

"If you don't play any games at the fair tonight, tomorrow we'll visit the toy store."

And every year our arguments fail to be more impressive than the bark of the midway shills and the colorful rows of chintzy toys they're hawking.

This year was only slightly different.

The midway seemed quieter. The kids were lured to play fewer games.



Technological addiction, as it turns out, has its rewards.