The Story of My Atari
In a recent post, Lux mentioned that she has an Atari. This started a fascinating thread about how she got it and the different games she has. It definitely sent me on a trip down memory lane. I loved my Atari, which has its own story.

When I was a child, you could not bring electronics from abroad into Mexico. I am not sure why, but it was a stupid law. Nonetheless my parents bought me an Atari during a trip to the US, but they got stopped by customs at the airport when they returned to Mexico and the thing got confiscated. You could reclaim confiscated items from a warehouse at the airport if you were leaving the country. So my Dad on his next business trip to the US, claimed it and then mailed it to some friends who worked at the US embassy. Since mail to the embassy goes in the diplomatic pouch, which is not examined by Mexico, the Atari made it safely. And of course, there are no custom officials checking you as you leave the embassy. So I finally got my Atari, but it had a long number written with permanent marker on the front fake wood panel. This was its storage number from the confiscated items warehouse at the airport.

From that point on, many electronics we bought in the US (our gargantuan Betamax VCR, a little tape recorder, etc.) got mailed to our friends who worked at the embassy. That is how I got my first stereo system when I was 12. That thing was awesome: it had a phonograph, cassette player, and 8-track, as well as an AM/FM stereo receiver. But that is a story for a different time.

Addendum: For more info on the wonderful world of Atari [I tripped over this link at Kim's page just after I wrote this - weird, huh?]