The Hardest Part (Based on a True Story)

You see a lot of interesting things working at a bowling alley like I have for thirty years. I’m not talking about perfect games and picking up seven-ten splits. You actually see these more than you think. No, I’m talking about really interesting things like deep-fried chicken feet, or a clear ball with a scorpion in it, or one of those little pencils driven into a telephone pole by a tornado. These are the kinds of things you just don’t see everyday. At least I don’t. But of all the amazing things I’ve seen, that little girl with her hand stuck in the gumball machine takes the cake.

Lord knows how long she sat there before anybody realized she was in a pickle. This child couldn’t have been more than four-years-old and there she was, with half her arm up inside that thing. Her mom came running over and started trying to pull it out, but her hand wouldn’t budge. A few other people leaned in to see if they couldn’t wiggle and tug on it a bit. This just got her all upset and she started to cry.

Before you knew it, about half the bowling alley was there trying to help. They smiled and made funny faces for her. They brought pop and sweets. And, they tried and tried to get her unstuck. It wasn’t long before someone called the fire department. Minutes later a big, red truck rolled up, honking and flashing. Three burly firefighters came in wanting to know what was going on. I guess I wasn’t clear enough, because they went over and spent twenty minutes doing everything that everyone else had already tried.

Things seemed to get a little more serious after that. They brought in a heavy blanket, laid it over that little girl, and busted open the machine spilling gumballs and broken glass everywhere. I suppose they hoped to be able to see her fingers or maybe take the machine apart from the top down. When this didn’t work they put the blanket back on her and poured five gallons of cooking oil into the machine. This didn’t help, either. By now the newspaper was on the scene and the whole thing was turning into quite a story.

They got a hold of someone from the vending company who thought that one of her fingers must be caught in a gear that only moved forward. To free her, he explained, you would have to put in a quarter and turn the crank. The problem with this was that she would most likely lose that finger.

When the little girl overheard this being explained to her terrified mother, she let go of the gumball she was holding onto and quickly pulled her hand right out of that machine!