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QaR
October 2009 
chuck e cheese's
Posted on Feb 24th, 2008
by 
maze
maze
I was there last night. I used to think it was just a local phenomena, but I'm beginnig to believe they may even have a franchise in Bangladesh somewhere. I swear my family decides to go to Chuck e Cheese's more than once a year. It's a half assed tradition of ours. Even though our kids are grown, we are in denial. We continue to go because we are attached to the confusion and distraction element of it all. The moment you walk in you are confronted with noise, flashing lights and children running amok. And parents looking wild eyed and frantic attempting to find their kids. Kids enjoying bopping gophers popping out of holes while anticipating rolls and rolls of tickets coming out of slots momentarily. And for what...prizes. Everybody loves to win a prize. Here's an old one for you: "what's a papoose?" It's a consolation prize for taking a chance on an Indian blanket. But the thing is...every one comes out a winner at chuck e cheese's. No matter how bad you are at tossing grapefruit sized basketballs through hoops, there are games that require no more skill than just plain dumb luck. I don't understand why anyone would call luck dumb...but we do. The other night this man and his wife who dwell on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia, were the winners of the 270 million dollar Mega lottery. He's 54 and she's 47 and they used the numbers that coincided with the days of their grandchildren's birth as their game plan. And now, they are rich beyond their belief. Of course, the first thing theyr'e going to do is pay off their bills and then, they're going to take all their grand kids to chuck e cheese's so that they can have a hell of a good time with their good fortune. Damn, I'm so happy for them. They must have great constitution to want to go there amidst all that noise and confusion...just for the sake of their kids kids. I'm always glad when there's some new money floating around....it gives the economy a new perspective. Maybe that's what the government should start doing. They should buy up all the chuck e cheese's franchises and dole out hundred dollar bills instead of crappy tickets for meaningless prizes. Let little poor kids go home with ten thousand dollars in their hands so they could help pay for their education and help rebuild amerika.
Access: Public
So they still have Chuckie Cheeses there? Wow. I think there's one in Mesa. For some reason our kids never thought they were so wonderful. They were Peter Piper Pizza kids. Lord knows why. Glad you all had a great time.
Thanks for letting me know what the attraction to Chuck-e-Cheese is. When we lived in Texas and our daughter was 4 yrs, every single kid in our playgroup had their birthday parties at Chuck e Cheese. I grew to really hate those places. They remind me of a casinos only for kids-the games, the flashing lights, the floor show. I am not very fond of casinos either and I liked Texas even less. When we moved back to northern California, I even bragged that the nearest Chuck e Cheese was 50 miles away. The nearest one to us now is at least 60 miles. We are all different and have different tastes. De gustibus non est disputandum!
I hope my comment wasn't too negative. Maybe the one in Buffalo has better food than the one did in Hurst, TX? After leaving the comment I started thinking about why I feel the way I do about Chuck e Cheeze. I guess I have an aversion to what I call a manufactured lifestyle and that is what Chuck e Cheeze represents for me. I guess this is how my parents have influenced me. We make our own Valentines, Halloween costumes, birthday parties and Christmas presents. My parents probably did that because they grew up during the depression. This has evidently become a source of pride because my folks were so clever at making things. Thanks for bringing this up so I could ponder it and learn more about myself.
Tom, this is one of the many places where you and I differ. God, I'm so glad I escaped my children's childhood without ever having had to endure Chuck E. Cheese. There isn't one right in our town. There's one about an hour away. It was easy to avoid, but there were a couple of close calls.
BTW, that thing with the $100 bills? The government already does that. Almost everybody making less than $50,000 a year is a net beneficiary. But this largesse will never solve a single problem. Hasn't yet. Never will. It actually usually makes things worse.
JW… Nope…the food is quite the same I suppose. And don't ever worry about being too negative…I often write stuff just to get a response. And that goes for you too Marty. Although over the years going to Chucky's …I have to admit…I always drive seperately. As soon as Happy Birthday is sung…I adios. I don't eat cake.
Ah, I knew there was a secret to your success. It makes sense that as a politician, you'd have the logistics of the rubber chicken circuit down. Show up fashionably late, shake some hands, slap some backs, have a bite of chow and dodge out the back door. I remember that's kind of how you handled the St. Gerard's fundraiser back in October.
I am little confused. Do you actually choose to go there as a family just for the heck of it, or is it somebody's birthday. I remember going there, quite often when marty and harry were little. All those kinds of places like that, and the discovery zone. They had so much fun but I ended up exhausted. I suppose I am happy not to have to go there anymore but at the same time I miss those days. I think it is kind of neat that your family continues to do these things together.
Geez, for the St. Gerard's fundraiser….I stayed until after the Chinese Auction…for me, that was quite late. But I still ate no cake. I left through the same door I came in.
Yesterday I was invited to a Sabres hockey game. A friend of mine had one of those luxury suites. As I was in the recline position watching the 6 o'clock news I said to my wife that I'd rather stay home and watch the game on TV. Instead, at 6:30 we left for the arena downtown. The first thing I said to my friend as I enetered the suite was that he should forgive me in advance because I was going to leave midway through the 3rd period. I know this is selfish on my part mostly because I dislike the crowds exiting sporting events and I despise getting stuck in parking lots. With 7 minutes left in the game, my wife and I got up to go. My friend said….you weren't bullshitting when you said you were going to leave early. The Sabres were winning 3-2. By the time we got to the elevator, the Flyers tied the game. On the way home we listened to the game play into an overtime tie. By the time I got home
I put the TV on to watch Danny Briere score the winning goal in the Shoot Out. Sabres lost 4-3…but I was close to my coveted bed. Good politicians need rest. There's a lot of slings and arrows flung their way.
this was not a part of my childhood as a Canadian, but i can relate… love to you!
Jenni… we go there just to have goofy fun. Some of the siblings in the family are younger…but even the older kids 12, 13 & 14 will participate in the games. Usually we have three tables full of friends and family sitting about. This week end there was 18 of us. Julie… picked the place. She turned sweet 16 and and thought it would be fun to get us a bunch of us together at chucky's…to sing happy birthday.
I haven't been to Chuck e Cheese in ages… I love this story, sharing life's abundance at Chuck e Cheese.
wow, I think it is so neat and says something about her relationship with you and your wife, that your daughter still wants to celebrate her birthday in a special way with you. Hold on to that and be thankful, as I know you already are. I am so happy for you. love, jenni