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“To me, a quarter’s a quarter. If you lose one today, another one tomorrow, that’s 50 cents,” said Percy Clarke, sitting on a bench in e-Sports, the Memorial Union arcade, which he manages. This is his domain, and this simple sentiment regarding the refund policy embodies his attitude toward his job: sweat the small stuff, pay attention to detail, and serve the patrons.
John Atwater, a senior who spends a self-proclaimed “little too much” time gaming, said, “Percy’s the greatest thing around here. He’s got to have a thousand friends. I mean, he’s really solid gold. He takes care of you and he’s so friendly when you, come in.”
Percy is a positive man; he ends most statements with “that’s good,” and his eyes tend to crinkle with the beginning of a full-faced smile. He insists he is 39 years old, despite having two adult children. “I wouldn’t want to rock the boat too much. They might say ‘Jeez, is he that old? Wow.’”
Senior Associate Dean of Students Kenda Scheele has been acquainted with Percy since she came to the University of Maine in 2001.
“Strong or stalwart are words I think about when I think of Percy,” Scheele said. “To be still so positive and so motivated . he really does have a heart for students. You couldn’t find a kinder-hearted person.”
“I’m kind of an outgoing fellow,” said Percy, who calls his daughter Susan, who lives in California, his best friend. “I’ve made some great friends over the years and still have them.”
Some of those friends are, naturally, the e-Sports regulars.
Matt Berard, a fifth-year student, has known Percy for two years – long enough for Percy to champion him “my best DDR player.”
“Every time I come in, I’ll spend at least, like, 15, 20 minutes sitting around talking to him,” Berard said. “He tells me how he’s been, trips he’s taken. I tell him how school’s going, how my work’s going.”
“If you come in here more than a few times, you’re going to have a conversation with Percy eventually,” Atwater said.
Scheele invites Percy to her home several times each year and has attended university football games with him. “He’s a great historian of the university,” she said.
One of the resident pinball wizards of e-Sports, Atwater appreciates the regular game rotation and thinks at least one interesting machine is consistently offered. “Percy . listens to everybody who comes in here. He wants to know what people like, and he really works hard with the people who bring the machines in,” Atwater said.
“He knows the kids that like to play certain games, and he always tries to make sure they’re ready for them,” Scheele said.
Percy runs a suggestion box and usually receives several responses between his days at the arcade. He takes pride in the fact players can go directly to Student Affairs on the third floor of Memorial Union and claim a refund for any quarter-snatching malfunctions.
Percy had his left hip surgically replaced in 2005 and now comes in three days a week for four to five hours. He applies himself as dutifully as he did working in law, real estate and insurance in his earlier years.
“You sort of get out of what you put into it. Whatever I’m doing or into, I take it as seriously as . maybe more seriously than I should. All my life, I’ve been like that. And certainly this is no exception here,” Percy said. He also works “from time to time” at MaineBound, sewing items and being a general handyman.
Percy has been manager of e-Sports since its inception in 2004. His fondness for the arcade business stretches back to 1987, when he joined the university staff in a more robust Memorial Union arcade that featured bowling alleys and pool tables. Scheele testified to Percy’s passion for the job, calling him conscientious and detail-oriented.
“When things get broken, he pesters us incessantly until it gets fixed. He pushes, which is good,” Scheele said. She recollected when a light above the pool table broke; Percy took it upon himself to repair vintage a Coca Cola pool lamp, having it mended by a stained glass worker in Brewer.
“He does whatever it takes, because the pool players wanted a light over the table. And it does make a huge difference,” Scheele said.
“I think there’s always a challenge,” Percy said while sitting in e-Sports, mulling over his territory. “Like right now, I’m sitting here, I see clean floors, the games are all clean and checked over. I like to come in, of course, and have the challenge in the time I’m here to clean things up and make them right. Which I do. I know how to do it. So that’s good.”
“He wants to make this place as good as it can be for people,” Atwater said.
Although Berard pictures Percy as “the friendly grandfather figure who always gave you treats,” the humble manager is not wont to dwell on himself. He attributes the arcade’s mystique to the games as much as anything, with his top four attractions being dance game “In The Groove 2,” pool, air hockey and “Big Buck Hunter.”
“The players come in to relax between classes and so forth, and most of them take it not seriously,” Percy said. “Generally it’s a form of relaxation. That’s the way we like it.”
Walk-ins as well as repeat visitors are drawn to e-Sports. “We do have our regular players, yes we do. We have some that, even after graduation, continue to come back. Primarily weekends, but boy, when they come back, they play heavy; $20 in the change machine is not unusual. And they play all day,” Percy said, laughing.
Berard thinks he’ll miss the arcade and its friendly manager after graduation. “I might make special trips just to come up and say hi.”
Percy described 2008 as “an off year,” citing the economy. “People just don’t really have the money. I have kids come in and look on the floor now to see if they can find a quarter . so they can play. That’s pretty tight, you know? In the hey-days, I’d pick up a . dollar-and-a-half right off the floor, a lot of times, when I came in, in the morning. Today I picked up 11 cents. You can see what’s happening,” he said.
The arcade also felt the effect of the blocked bottom entrance to the Union during the Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King Plaza construction. “[Students] found different routes, you know, and they’ve taken those,” Percy said. “We had a big, steady traffic. We don’t have that now.”
With the task of maintaining e-Sports, Percy stays away from the games himself. “I don’t play; I found out that it’s best that I don’t. I try to get some work done and somebody comes in, ‘How about playing pool with me, Percy?’ I only have so much time here, so I stay right away from it,” he said, ruminating. “I used to be a good pool player, though. I probably still am.”
Once an avid snowmobiler, fisher and skier, Percy has been a season ticket holder for UMaine football for several years and occasionally attends hockey and basketball games – he speaks with a strong knowledge of the university football squad. He likes to kick back at home with old episodes of Andy Griffith and “Sanford and Son.” “I get reruns of those, and I still enjoy them.”
He is an all-around Boston sports fan; baseball is his favorite. “I made it,” he said with relief about seeing the Red Sox win the World Series.
Percy has no plans to retire. “I plan to be around as long as I can. ‘Cause I enjoy it. I enjoy the young people; I enjoy my work, and that’s important [to] make me happy.”
Bangor Daily News