Les bon temps ont fini

The correct French - which you could also check through Google translations is "Laissez les bon temps rouler"

Wow it has been a long time since I have been here but I do remember good times at this place though. No pun intended. Boston does have some great classic hang outs

R.I.P. Goodtimes Emporium

Your name always lived up to its hype, every visit to Goodtimes were indeed Goodtimes. As American as you can get, where else could you see such a diverse group of people "breaking bread" so to speak. Children of all nationalities and all income levels celebrating birthday parties in the arcade section in the afternoon, soon to be replaced by pre-teens in the mid afternoon, followed by the teens (who just woke up) in the late afternoons, the twenty somethings in the early evenings, and the drunk revelers shortly after that. Meanwhile in the concurrent universe of the sports bar section you would have all sorts of people hanging out, playing pool, drinking, playing keno and passing out. The club area was always interesting, and on occasion you would find some sort of corporate training happening in that room as well.

Sure it was seedy, and lets face it a little more dangerous than if you just went to the movies (with my friends there was a rule that nobody ever walked out to their car alone if it was parked on the right side out of site of the front doors) but that was part of the appeal. For the most part you were never in danger leaving Goodtimes at 1am, but it always felt more adventurous than if you had just went the Harp for your 25th birthday instead. As a lifelong resident who has seen many sides of Goodtimes I mourn its passing with an understanding that it doesnt quite fit the new demographics in our city (greater Boston.) Every year one of these institutions passes to make way for some corporate shell that people recognize more readily, Goodtimes had always benefited from its location in Somerville, and now its got to go because of its location in Somerville. Goodtimes in the old Boston, Ikea is the new. After all whats a college town without an Ikea, oh and a Coldstone, Qdoba, Chipotle, Target, Best Buy, and an Apple Store. The students want to be different so we have to supply them with the same stores that they can find near any college in the country to help make that happen for them. I realize they are trying to find a new home, it wont happen. Even if it does happen it wont be Goodtimes, there is no way to recreate that sort of business with our current regulations, and with our real estate prices.

I will most likely shop at Ikea for some items, but will never fully embrace it. I see myself, in fifty years, being one of those old men that tells his grand kids what used to be where while they roll their eyes. Now I know what my grand father was talking about when he would wistfully tell me where the 5 and 10 (I dont know what the hell that was!) was, and how great the movie theathre that is now an office building always had the best popcorn. Time marches on and so must we. For people in my age group it will become a way to tell if someone is a true Bostonian or a recent transplant, after all can someone in their twenties be a true Bostonian if they never played skee ball drunk in Somerville?

Babel Fish has always had a pretty dodgy reputation. It's a joke they really still exist as most people know they suck.