Caine's Arcade: An Accidental Cash Mob?

Forget "Yes We Can!" America's new slogan should be, "Yes We Caine!"

Perhaps Caine Monroy is America's most industrious nine-year-old, and had filmmaker Nirvan Mullick not stopped by Caine's dad's east L.A. autoshop to pick up a new door handle for his car, the world may have never discovered the genius that is Caine Monroy -- or at least, not this early in the boy's life. See, hanging out in an autoshop for the summer isn't exactly a laugh riot for a nine-year-old and the shop just doesn't get the foot traffic it used to in the '50s when Caine's grandfather ran it, so Caine's dad mostly spends time in the back selling car parts over the internet, which leaves Caine to his own devices for long stretches.

Thankfully, Caine has an expansive imagination and limitless resourcefulness and ingenuity. The boy always wanted his own arcade, so instead of whining that there was nothing to do and begging his dad to take him to Shakey's Pizza everyday, he built his own real working arcade and he did it using only the cardboard boxes in the autoshop storage room.

That's right folks, I'm not talking about cardboard video game consoles with cute drawings of the characters on screens outlined in crayon, I'm talking about a real working arcade with games like, a soccer game where you try to shoot a ball into a goal past soldier men blockers with your finger, a basketball game where you shoot a small basketball into a hoop where the ball drops down so you can shoot again and a claw machine that uses a hook through a track in the top of a box to pick up the toys inside and all of it was created by one boy with no help whatsoever.

Soon Caine had set up his own working arcade with a variety of machines in the front of his dad's shop. Patrons received four plays for a dollar or a Fun Pass for two dollars, which includes 500 plays for one month. Caine even came up with a brilliant security system to protect against Fun Pass forgeries. He taped calculators to his cardboard machines, so he could type in the number on the front of the Fun Pass into the calculator and then press the checkmark key. The number that was calculated corresponded to another number on the back of the Fun Pass, proving its authenticity.

Caine's Arcade was probably good enough to compete with the big boys at Shakey's Pizza, Chuck E. Cheese and even Dave & Buster's. The place had prizes, originally supplied by Caine's old toys, he made his own staff shirt, so you knew who the owner was and if you scored points, it was Caine who went into his machines to make sure they dispensed your tickets.

The only problem was, he didn't have any customers. Well, until Nirvan showed up, Nirvan loved the arcade so much, he decided to make the film below -- changing Caine's life in the process:





As you saw, tons of LA residents "came to play" and, in doing so, made Caine Monroy the arcade owner he always wanted to be. The greatest day of Caine's young life occurred on Oct. 2, 2011, but it didn't end there. When this short film went viral in early April 2012, viewers were encouraged to donate money towards Caine's college education because, as the Caine's Arcade website says, "imagine what this kid could do with an engineering degree." They've already raised $181,000 for whatever Caine wants to do during his post-secondary pursuit, but the video's popularity isn't just benefiting Caine. Mullick's film has also sparked the establishment of a foundation. The Caine's Arcade Foundation will be dedicated to "discovering, fostering and funding creativity and entrepreneurship" in other kids like Caine.

But there's also something else going on here, something Mullick probably never intended or desired, but it happened anyway. The flash mob was created for the sole purpose of making Caine's day, but since Fun Passes cost $2 and regular admission cost $1, it could also be considered a "Cash Mob".

Wait a minute, you've heard of a Flash Mob, but what's a Cash Mob? A Cash Mob is when a crowd of shoppers is organized through online social networks to shop at one store all together with the intention of drawing more business to, and support for, local businesses. One recent cash mob in LA saw a store rake in $1,200 -- nearly double what they normally take in this time of year and an amount that's more typical during the holiday season.

Cash mob events are also an extension of the "buy local" movement, where people are reacting directly towards the big box chains that are squeezing out the mom and pop shops. Typically, cash mob participants agree to spend a minimum of $20 and agree to meet at a specific intersection at a specific time. Like a covert spy mission, the name of the targeted business isn't revealed until seconds before the event.

After the event, participants head to a local watering hole where they get to know each other and show-off their purchases. It's described by participants as a great way to meet new friends outside of work and a great way to discover hidden gems in their own city. If you want to find the next cash mob in your area, simply type in your city in front of the words "cash mob" into the search field on Facebook or Twitter and see what comes up. Most cash mobs on Twitter go by @CMcityname. If you want to start a cash mob of your own, MeetUp.com is a great place to start, as is cashmob.ca. Both sites dole out advice like the following:

• Each Cash Mob should have an agenda. Like spending at least $20 with a local merchant, local business, local retail, or local restaurant.
• We don't cash mob Target, Walmart, Outback, or any other large national or international company. The purpose is to solely support the local business owner.
• Meet and greet as many cash mobbers as you can. When holding an event encourage everyone to meet at least three new people they don't already know.
• Can't mob anything without friends. Invite your friends and spread the word using Social Media. Cash Mobs are new so spread the word.
• Be clean, respectful, and patient with the local business you cash mob. Most local businesses aren't prepared for the onslaught of buyers. Give them time to serve the people.

Cash Mobs even have their own day, just like Caine Monroy did on Oct. 2, but this one is meant to launch multiple cash mobs in multiple cities at the same time, on the same day and it's March 24th every year.

So was Nirvan Mullick's day to give Caine the customers he never had really a cash mob? We think so, even if it was an unconscious one. Technically, Caine's Arcade is a local business inside another locaLbusiness and he did sell a ton of Fun Passes that day. The day was organized through social media just like a cash mob and if cash mobs are all about finding hidden gems, there's none more sparkling with potential than Caine Monroy.

Caine's Arcade is still open, every weekend in the front of his dad's shop. He's a lot busier now, word has gotten out, but he's still hoping you come to play. Find him here:

Caine's Arcade (located inside Smart Parts Aftermarket)
538 N. Mission Rd
Boyle Heights, CA 90033
Check www.cainesarcade.com for hours