This is a collaboration between two different areas we are supposed to write upon. This transaction took place about two weeks ago, but I remember thinking how crazy (odd) the combination of Chuck E Cheese and alcohol seemed. Looking back now, it is still a little odd, but totally makes sense once one has experienced "Mouse Hell."
As I walked through the double glass doors, aromas of old pizza, feet, and BO slapped me in the face. Screams of bratty children engulfed my ears causing an instantaneous migraine. As a twenty-one year new mom, Chuck E Cheese was the last place I wanted to spend a Friday night with my nine month old and without my husband. Before entering the "play area," my son and I both received an invisible stamp signifying that he was mine and I can leave with him later. Instead of placing a stamp on my son's hand, however, the surly hostess placed a sticker on his car seat that would not come off now matter how hard I scrubbed. It remains slightly faded on the left side of his car seat two weeks later. After being branded with the Mouse's ownership, I sauntered up to the counter behind my younger brothers and waited on my turn to order- garden salad, small drink, and $10 in tokens so I could play Skee-ball with Aaron for his birthday.
"Would you like a beer with your salad?" the attendant questioned from behind the metal counter.
"Excuse me?" I must not have heard her correctly.
"A beer. We carry several different brands, and we also sell wine if you would prefer that instead. I can show you a drink menu if you'd like." Alcohol with these kids running around? Are they nuts? My new-found motherly instinct went into overdrive as I stared at the 16-year-old part-timer with wide-eyes and jaw slightly ajar.
"Why would sell alcohol with all these kids around? Isn't this a kid's restaurant?"
"Yes ma'am. But most parents claim that they need a beer just to get through an hour and a half of 'Mouse Hell.'" Makes sense.
If you haven't been in The Classy Cricket, just off the square in Carrollton, you should. It's an odd mix of kiddie gifts (Hello Kitty material, puppets, games, etc.) and mommy's alcohol gifts (hip flasks, martini kits, etc.). What I love about it--and about your oddity above--is that they capitalize on the rather understandable (if sort of hush hush) confluence of child care and drinking.
ReplyDeleteThe combination of alcohol and Chuck E Cheese reminds me of the exercise we did in class about looking for the unexpected in a topic – finding sadness in things that are supposed to be happy for example. I think you could play this idea up even more if you decide to develop this journal entry further. Chuck E Cheese is supposed to be this happy, fun, and exciting place, but your description begins to capture some of the darker sides of Chuck E Cheese – “old pizza”, “feet”, “BO”, “screams of bratty children”, and “alcohol”. I think future drafts would benefit from even more of these observations – finding the depressing in a place that is designed to be fun. How would you describe the other parents there? What about the Chuck E Cheese characters? Is there something sad or creepy about them? What about the people who work there? How would you describe them? Do they look like they enjoy working there? Obviously the kids are blind to all of this and are having a good time, so why as adults why might we interpret Chuck E Cheese as a place deserving of the aid of alcohol? What changes as we get older? Maybe you could write about your experiences at Chuck E Cheese as a child (if you had them) and go from there.
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