Jerry

Hyrum always wants to try vending machines with toys inside (or with cotton candy inside, if you remember).  He convinced someone to let him use his two tokens in the crane machine. I thought, "Now he'll learn that these machines are a waste and NOBODY ever wins."

He was unsure of his own abilities, so he asked Ben to try for him.
Try #1--Ben grabbed the toy but lost him on the way back to the start.
Try #2--Ben had learned a few things in his first attempt.  He carefully positioned the crane over the toy's head and snagged him fast around the neck--nothing was going to shake it loose.  He moved the crane back to the start and dropped it into the slot.

Hyrum is now the proud owner of Jerry.

Now when will I ever convince him that nobody ever wins these games?

Maybe he's that nobody.

Brings back a memory of similar circumstances when I was a kid, we stopped at a gas station in Nevada, and my dad had a pocketful of nickels.  He led all four of us up to the slot machines, divided the nickels and told us to see what happened.  Just like Hyrum's experience with Jerry, the first pull of the lever and the money was gone.  Next pull--coins came spilling out.  We had won!  It took a little longer than Dad expected to teach us the lesson, but eventually all the coins disappeared, and we walked away empty handed.

Maybe next time he'll learn (I said that with the cotton candy, didn't I?)
Linking up to Jenny Matlock's J at Alphabe-Thursday.