"What the HELL?" Israel moment of the week...

I love Israel to death. I really do. But very strange things happen here and they are occasionally quite difficult to wrap your head around. This latest brushstroke on the Israeli cultural canvas had me scratching my head when I first saw it a few months ago, and I still can't quite grasp the concept.

You know those carnival machines where you put in a quarter and you make some mechanical claw grab a stuffed animal and drop it into a hole?

Well in Israel they have those same machines for children. Except with cigarettes.

Exhibit A, from a bowling alley here in Jerusalem:




Can't see them? Fine here's a closer look:




Uhhhh, hello? Where does one even start? There are a lot of smart people in this country, and yet no one has figured out that THERE ARE CIGARETTES IN THE CHILDREN'S TOY MACHINES! This is unfortunately not an isolated incident. I've been privy to many of these machines all over the country.

Here's the thing: yea yea, cigarettes are bad for you and it's addictive and gross blah blah blah. But if I were an Israeli kid growing up here, I'd be pissed that those stupid cigarettes are taking up room in the machine where there could be stuffed animals or cool plastic eggs with toy soldiers inside! If I'm an 8 year-old boy, I don't want any heatsticks. All I really want is a PS3. Or maybe a magnifying glass, a bunch of ants, and some free time. Why can't they put that stuff in the machine?

Anyways, in all seriousness, this is pretty sick if you ask me. What's next? Ashtrays from the toothfairy?



"No no sweetie. Not 'till you put a quarter in the machine."