We all grew up with Bob Barker. Over the past few days, we’ve been sharing memories of how we’d watch Price is Right when we were sick and home from school.

In this day when politics and arguments over vaccines tear us apart, perhaps we’re forgetting Plinko can bring us together.

I’ve been screening some classic Price is Right action at the house. Bob Barker was an engaging host … and also sassy. At one Showcase Showdown, a contestant failed to spin the Big Wheel entirely around twice in a row.

He really did say, “Make sure it goes all the way around this time, or I’m going to kick you in the ankle.”

He even urged the crowd to boo, saying, “Let’s hear it again, audience.” But that’s a good host who can razz contestants and still be lovable.

I was working at a station in Portland, Oregon when Bob Barker announced his retirement. The producer of the afternoon talk show and I decided to take a road trip to be contestants on the show. We asked their publicist if we might also score an interview with Bob Barker.

They said if we’d asked for an interview the week before he announced he was leaving, they would have been happy to set it up. But now, we’d be approximately 1,432nd in line. Plus, if we went down as “members of the media,” we could see a show, but we wouldn’t be eligible to come on down.

This was not a difficult decision. Even with the slim chance either of us would be picked from the audience, it was a low-risk, high reward situation. We would forgo the interview. Besides, when one of us was called down, had a successful bid on contestants’ row and were playing a game of Cliffhanger, that’d give us plenty of time to get to know Bob.

We started texting about this trip when we heard he had passed. To ensure we’d get called, we had custom shirts made with a memorable slogan… that neither of us recalls. We also spent weeks memorizing prices. The key was not to memorize how much you’d pay for those Little Debbie Fudge Rounds, but how much Price is Right quoted them.

Also, sometimes they’d have repeat cars, but they’d have slightly different prices, so the key was to find a window for the big ticket items.

My brother lives in LA, so we stayed at his apartment the night before the show. Even though we had tickets, they give away far more tickets than they have seats, so our intel advised us to show up early.

We got there about 3 am… and the line already stretched off the lot and down the street. We got to know the folks around us, and we took shifts napping. One of us would walk a couple blocks to the car and grab a few minutes of sleep while the other guarded the spot.

They started letting us in about 9 am and did a quick interview with everyone as they made out the name tag. I kept mine as a keepsake of this quest.

You’re then funneled into the studio, tired and gamey. But seeing the stage and that color scheme you grew up looking at on TV gave you the energy you’d need to overlook the smell of the people with whom you’ve just shared eight hours living on a street in Los Angeles.

The guy who warmed up the crowd knew he faced a tough task. They walked us through the process to clap and cheer as they announced the first group to come on down and panned the camera across the crowd as the lights were flashing. But we were to remain seated.

When they announced Bob Barker, that’s when we could let ‘er rip. And we did. It was exciting to see him and also to reach the end of our crusade.

He was engaging with the crowd. They needed time between pricing games to get the next one set up, so during those breaks, he’d take questions from us. I remember someone asking him what he’d do the day after he taped his last show.

In that Bob Barker voice we all know, that supportive, matter-of-fact, deadpan delivery, he replied:

“I will probably get drunk.”

Neither of us was called to come on down, but I’m glad for the chance to live out a dream so many of us had when we were kids.

When Snowden and I were texting about that trip, however, he reminded me we hit snow in the mountains of southern Oregon on the way back. I lost control of the car and ever-so-gently brushed up against the center barrier on the interstate.

We were okay, and the car was okay to drive the rest of the way, but he still maintains he looked over and saw Del Griffith from Planes, Trans and Automobiles.

Back to Bob Barker, given how much Price is Right brings us all together, we can all agree the inventor of Plinko should be a Nobel laureate.