Everything in them may be overpriced and undermade, but it would be putting it lightly to call the THON concessions stations a miracle.

I’m not sure what they’re really called, hence the term, but they’ve been carrying my THON 2026 experience. Where every other stand in the concourse is covered in people, mostly waiting, these stands have at most a single person in them. The experience is a quick in-and-out affair, where you grab whatever you want and just walk right out. It makes me feel like I’m stealing, which gives me some conflicting feelings.

On my first few stops, I felt uneasy and confused. You paid at the beginning, and just walked out without anybody looking at what you grabbed. The workers were mostly chatting to the side, not paying attention to the shoppers. How could this work? Weren’t they afraid someone would pocket a $5 Gatorade? Sure, stealing from a child cancer fundraiser is a horrible thing to do, but I wouldn’t bet against it happening, especially in a place that makes it look easy.

But no, these concessions stations are far more complex than at first glance. With a quick look upwards, you’ll see a boatload of cameras pointing in every direction within the enclosure. These cameras track each customer as they enter, then takes notes of anything they grab before leaving. How does this work? Beats me, but I’m amazed.

Unless there’s just a person in the back taking copious notes (which I doubt), this thing is a marvel of modern machinery, and I tip my hat off to the inventor. It’s truly a high watermark on the achievements of mankind, up there with the pyramids and Star Wars. Bravo.