My brother and sister-in-law took the kids to McDonald's last week. This is not a regular thing, but a once in a while special treat.
All was fine until our nephew Ryan opened up his Happy Meal. He was not too thrilled with the toy. Not at all pleased. You see, his last Happy Meal offered up a 3-inch Hummer. This time he wasn't as "fortunate." On this grisly day, he received an ugly Ronald McDonald doll for his sins.
He wasn't going to take this sitting down. Not this Aries-Dragon boy. Apparently, he then walked up to the counter and pleasantly asked if he could get a Hummer toy instead. "Oh I'm sorry," the young woman at the counter cooed, "We gave out Hummers last month. We have a different prize this month."
Unsatisfied with this response, but anger in check, he then boldly asked, "Can I talk to your manager?" Oh, yeah, have I mentioned that Ryan celebrated his 6th birthday last April?
At this point, my brother noticed that Ryan had been gone for over five minutes. As he walked up to the front counter, he found Ryan was gazing up at a tall man wearing a brown tie. Clearly, the manager. He was calmly explaining the Happy Meal toy policy to a very attentive little boy.
At this point, my brother noticed that Ryan had been gone for over five minutes. As he walked up to the front counter, he found Ryan was gazing up at a tall man wearing a brown tie. Clearly, the manager. He was calmly explaining the Happy Meal toy policy to a very attentive little boy.
Satisfied with the answer, Ryan smiled politely and said energetically, "Thank you!"
Now, I'm not sure I would have been so bold to ask to talk to a manager of any kind, at age 12, much less six. Ryan has an unapologetic savvy confidence about him that I don't always see in many adults, much less other six year olds! What a funny kid.
And what weekend with kids is complete without a trip to Chuck E. Cheese, a.k.a., Germapalooza? We braved the Pachinko parlor-like bells and whistles, flashing lights, the rodents of unusual size singing and playing air guitar in the "Pizza Time Theater," and kids running all over the place. It was our niece's 9th birthday. Ayu and Ryan loved it.
I was thinking of things that I would loved, if only they came around sooner in my life. Chuck E. Cheese, Toys R Us, a new water slide at the Kona Surf Hotel, and McDonald's Playland came on the scene when I was 12. Though my brother was in heaven, I felt cheated. I was just beyond the age when things like that would have been thrilling.
Actually, my first memory of McDonald's Playland was a bit painful. My grandparents took us to the newly remodeled McDonald's in Kailua-Kona for breakfast. We usually stopped there before our long drive back to Hilo on the other side of the Big Island. I guess I was a bit over zealous and somehow got myself stuck in the "Hamburglar" Tower. Jesus Christ. It took a bit of relaxation, flexibility, and pre-teen meditation to get out of that iron contraption.
Technology brings a whole new world to kids these days. I remember being excited with Intellivision. Black and white Atari asteroids no longer held its appeal. After Intellivision, there was no going back...
Computer games for kids are insane these days. My niece is able to purchase, name, decorate, train, feed, clothe, and jump Arabian horses. Ryan grips a realistic racing steer wheel and races through the desert, city, and highway. It's like their imagination is worked out for them already--all they have to do is go out an experience click and scroll. Well, that's probably not true, but it seems that way.
This past Sunday night, my niece had to create a poster of her heritage. I was shocked and amazed to watch her gather and print out her research in less than 20 minutes. She's amazing and only 9-years old. In no time, things were downloaded, printed, glued, constructed, and colored. Perhaps what she does is the norm for kids these days. It just blew me away.
I can't imagine what it would have been like to have had internet access in elementary school. When I had to do a book report or paper, my mom used to drive my brother and I to the nearby Newport Way public library. We enacted our dewey decimal system skills and located heavy books. Rather than googling an image, I would get my brother to sketch out things for me. I thoroughly loved hunting down information, writing notes, and making copies.
I just wonder what is lost with all the shortcuts to so much information. Maybe kids build other skills? Perhaps instant internet access removes ambiguity tolerance and the virtue of patience. Asking for the manager at McDonalds, anyone?
Kids these days grow up with the confidence that everything and anything is available by simply moving a little mouse on a screen. It's so odd, isn't it?
