What Photo Booths Used to Mean.

On our way out of Sears, I see one of those old-fashioned photo booths. Sure, it’s got a computer screen now, but the idea is the same: a space so small you’re forced to squeeze together.

A curtain, one seat, four poses, and a film strip in three minutes.

I ask the kids if they want to take a picture. They pull out their phones.

Of course, they have a photo booth app. They can make as many film strips as they want.

“No, no, no!” I say. “That’s not the same thing!”

I rustle them into the booth.

“See, there was a time when you couldn’t undo and redo everything. A time when you couldn’t carry everything in your pocket.”

I insert $5 (inflation!) The monitor comes to life. The kids stare at their faces.

“In my day, the photo booth was a magical, romantic, dangerous place. That cheap red curtain blocked out the whole world. It was just you in there. And when the camera flashed, it froze four moments in time.

“I remember when I was 16, sitting in here with my first girlfriend. Looking at our reflections. Trying to pose without looking like we were posing. Waiting for that first flash. Waiting. Waiting.

“Then FLASH! Caught by surprise, staring straight ahead.

"FLASH! Smiling, glancing at each other.

"FLASH! Leaning against each other, laughing.

"FLASH! Turning in for an awkward kiss. I still have that photo somewhere—”

That’s when I notice the kids are laughing. I always get romantic at the wrong time.

I know that laugh. They’re going to mimic me now. Adults mock. Kids mimic. The first one hurts, the second one breaks down all your defenses. Pretty soon, you’re laughing, too.

Media Jean hits the Start button. They try to recreate my story, starting with that deer-in-headlights look my girlfriend and I had in our first photo.

But they can’t keep straight faces.

“Smooch booth!” shouts Media Jean. “This is a smooch booth!”

Chip laughs so hard, he almost falls over.

​I was laughing too. Kids find romance hilarious. If we grown-ups could hold on to that, there’d be a lot less heartbreak in this world.

​Anyway, I got a good laugh and a great photo out of it. What more can you ask of life?

Comments

Media Jean: Did your dad keep that old photo?

Chip: Yeah. I found it in one of his scrapbooks. He has a lot of scrapbooks. Wait a sec. I’ll take a pic and post it to his blog.

Media Jean: Got it. Wow, your dad is so young! Is that your mom?

Chip: No. He met my mom a couple years later, at city college.

Media Jean: You must miss her.

Chip: I was pretty little when she left. I don’t remember much.

Media Jean: Sounds like you really miss her.

Chip: Yeah.

Media Jean: Think your dad still misses her?

Chip: He has a lot of scrapbooks.

Media Jean: Yeah.

Johnny: Hey, it’s me. I wasn’t lurking. I, uh, my mom’s making dinner. She’s on a low-fat craze, so I can’t promise anything. But I thought maybe you’d, you know, want to come over.

Chip: Really?

Johnny: Yeah. And it’s Yahtzee night. My mom loves Yahtzee. We play for hours.

Chip: That sounds like fun, Johnny. Thanks.

Johnny: We start at 7.

Media Jean: For a lurker, you’re OK.

Johnny: I wasn’t lurking!

Chip: See you at 7, Johnny.

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