Thank
god someone else
remembers Gauntlet! Now I can
prove to my
girlfriend I am
not insane!
Our local grocery store recently installed U-Scan machines. For those unfamiliar with this mechanical incarnation of satan, it is a system that allows you to scan the barcodes of your items yourself, bag them yourself, and handle the money stuff yourself. It even works... about 3 percent of the time. The rest of the time, it chimes helpful messages like "Please place the item in the bag" (of course, after you have already placed said item in said bag) and "Please wait for cashier assistance", at which point you stand in front of the machine for ages waiting for someone to check your ID, kick the machine, or do something else that should be done by the cashiers, who's salaries you're paying when you buy your miniwheats and beer... But I digress.
The voice that issues these worthless messages sounds exactly like the voice in Gauntlet! That being the case, the first time I heard it (which was, of course, in a long, crowded line), I blurted out (perhaps a bit loud):
"Blue Valkyrie is about to die"
The silence and stares clued me in... No one else played Gauntlet (losers). My girlfriend doesn't think it exists. Now, I shall be vindicated.