I should state that I am not totally advocating a Chuck E. ban or boycott or something so silly, in spite of my recent post about Chuck E. parents and kindergarten birthdays in general. We have actually gone to Chuck E. Cheese on a couple of past occasions. We weren’t going to parties, just taking the boys for some ridiculous over-stimulation as a sort of summer treat. We’ve only ever gone on weekdays, in the summer, a little before dinner time. On those days the place was crowded, but nowhere near as bad as it was this past Sunday. For the most part, the parents are still dips. On those non-party weekday nights you see a lot of parents who hang out in the booths eating wings and pizza and ignoring their children as they climb on things that shouldn’t be climbed on and cause a general ruckus that goes way beyond public spectacle. I’m not one for ignoring my children when they tear a place apart, act completely inappropriate in public, or run around cursing at strange adults, but…to each his own, I guess.

There are also the people who bring their kids in, but don’t buy them any tokens or food. The adults just hang out in a corner, also ignoring the behavior of their offspring, while the kids scam tokens from other kids, swipe tickets from little kids, and pick food off the salad bar when the employees aren’t looking.

But then, there are anomalies. For one, I’d like to think we are an anomaly. We supervise our kids and play the games with them. We all sit down and eat cardboard pizza together. It’s a family outing. The kids love it. The parents long for margaritas and escape. It is…again…a family outing.

There are other anomalies as well. Occasionally there is a parent or even a couple with neither tattoos nor 300 excess pounds. Occasionally there are other parents actually playing the games with the kids. Occasionally you even get a whiff of globalization, french accents, trying to get wi-fi for their portables. Chuck E. Cheese – soon to have their own seat at the United Nations.