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"First they came for the ball pits, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't in the ball pits..."; Photo by pinprick
In her lawsuit filed in Cook County circuit court, Gerrhonda Stevens alleges her daughter, then 5, was at an Oak Lawn franchise, 4030 W. 95th St., which allowed too many children, including older kids, in an "enclosed tunnel" play area. Her daughter exited the tunnel on a slide, followed by an "excess number" of bigger and older kids, who then fell atop her.
Ms. Stevens is seeking damages in excess of $50k, though the specifics of her daughter's injuries aren't known.
The three bigger questions that emerge from this are: There are still Chuck E. Cheeses around? And why aren't there more lawsuits swirling around out there charging Mr. Cheese with being freaky as shit? Those animatronics are the stuff nightmares are made of. Finally, parents: do you consider a school trip to a pizza joint with skeeball (which this was) as a worthwhile activity? We went to Brookfield Zoo in the 1st grade which was awesome, but at least that was educational when we watched the polar bears "do it."
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Omigod, I can remember those animatronics...you're right... freaky scary! Those are the things nightmares are made of.
The lawsuit by this little girl's parents I can understand though...the way that place runs its kids entertainment (and I have not been inside a Chuck E. Cheese in forever), but those slides and balls are total anarchy. I'm surprised that , as your article states, that there are not more injuries and lawsuits.
There's one in Skokie, near the Crown Theaters, that is always jam packed with people from open to close. It's very cheap entertainment for large groups of kids. Cheap pizza, lots of noise and running around.
I don't have a law background, but at what point do parent's stop being responsible for their own child's safety? Wouldn't the school, acting loco parentis, be the one's at fault here? Just curious.
No, we can't have nice things because apparently raising your children to act like human beings in public is a dying skillset. :/
My son used to love going to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday when he was a child. We eventually stopped going because what passes for "Kids having fun" there shouldn't be acceptable by any stretch of the imagination. Our last visit included the following:
1. Kids taking turns spitting on the giant TV screens (and when I mean spit I mean giant loogies that dripped down the screens so much you didn't want to watch them)
2. Kids jumping on the stage and playing the drums, looking up the skirt of the bird character and trying to shove over the mouse animatronic
3. Kids trying to steal other kid's prize tickets
4. One little kid came over to our table and attempted to slice a piece of cake for himself out of my son's birthday cake. When I stopped him, a parent appeared out of nowhere and demanded to know why I was "manhandling his son." When I explained the situation he laughed and said I should have given him a slice. WTF? Who does that?
5. Kids removing the balls from the ball pits and throwing them at people's heads. Adults, children...it really didn't matter.
All of the above took place in front of the children's parents who apparently saw nothing wrong with this behavior and did nothing to stop it. When management came out to stop the children, parents came out of nowhere to exclaim "How dare you?" and "They are just being children!" and "I paid for my daughter's party and if you throw me out I will SUE YOUR ASS." That's the point where we decided we had enough and left.
That's why I don't eat at that...forgot the name of the restaurant, but it's the place where you choose your own food from a buffet line and hand it in to the chef and he sautes it and the waiter brings out the cooked dish to your table.
Anyway, the last time I went there was when I saw some little kid take food with her hands, put it in her mouth and then continue to do this with the rice. The parents were OBLIVIOUS!!
I know. Shocking.
I said something to the manager and they acted like it was no big deal.
Parents are afraid to be parents these days. They are afraid to discipline and implement structure.
You would not BELIEVE the shock and awe I get from people when I tell them that there is no tv or nintendo in my house during the week on school nights. People are like "How do you do that?" Seriously. It's like nobody ever heard of making rules and sticking by them.
@Kaonashi...the cake incident really takes the cake!
Wait, she did this to the food at the buffet as opposed to the food on her plate? *is silently ill*
This is one of many reasons why we try to find the most non-child friendly places possible when we go out to eat.
Yeah...I didn't make that clear in my post. She was doing this to the food on the buffet...while her parents were just of the thought that everyone in the whole world loves their little prodigy just as much as they do....and that's precisely what I hate about parents today.
Ever try to have a conversation with an adult while their kid keeps interrupting and they gladly oblige their precious one? No such thing as good manners and politeness anymore.
p.s. the name of the restaurant is Flat Top Grill and I will never, ever eat there again.
Hah, I've had a birthday party or two at that Oak Lawn Chucky Cheese. Man, I'm an old fart now.
Anyway, hey - it's a simple as parents watching what their kids are doing, instead of guzzling pictures of miller lite in the back room.
But it's chucky cheese fault your kid is a fuckass.
Well put, Kaonashi.
And I wasn't the only one who read the poor child's name as "Gonorrhea," right?
LOL, I totally thought it said Gonorrhea!!!
Remember Show Biz?
Oh, sweet mother of god, I worked at a Chuck E Cheese in high school. Yes, they are still around, and if any of you have kids or plan to have kids... only go on weeknights. or during the summer. Winter weekends at CEC are hell.
I should add that the parents were almost inevitably worse than the kids. And that was 10 years ago, so things have not changed.