What is it about restaurant playplaces?

[Shotgun Chuck]

Now that I'm starting to get settled in to my new job at a burger joint, I'm finding that, for some reason, restaurant playplaces bring out the worst in people. That's usually where I find the dirtiest tables, but this is the first time I've really been motivated to rant about it, because today, in one of the corners of the room, someone left an entire table covered in trash and the remains of a half-eaten meal. I'm talking about bags and wrappers everywhere, cups with some soda still left in them, disgusting soaked-through paper saucers of dressing sticking to the table, a never-even-eaten-from sleeve of fries spilling on the table... so much stuff that I for some time wasn't even sure they weren't planning to come back for it. Of course there were loose fries and caked-on soda gunk on the floor around that table too. You know, I expect this from kids, because they're too young to know better, but you'd think the adults watching over them would care enough to pick up.

When I mentioned this to one of the veteran employees, he expressed a complete lack of surprise and told me of a lady who, I wish I was making this up, let her five-year-old open salt shakers and throw the salt everywhere. Instead of stopping him, she just moved into the main lobby and ate there because she "didn't want to watch".

What is it about these playplaces that makes adults behave like children?

tl;dr Irresponsible parents, grrrrrrr.

[WishfulSpirit]

Play equipment = kids area = free babysitter. Therefore it's OK to dump their little darlings in there to eat with no supervision. Now I don't fault parents for wanting five minutes of peace and quiet or at least the chance to stuff food in their craw without fending off food moochers (hell I want and I don't even have kids, just a disabled husband and a dachshund), but they need to do what our parents did: pay someone to watch their minions when they need time alone.

[Seanette]

At least that area is designed for kids, unlike oh, say, the toy aisle at a thrift store.

[Shotgun Chuck]

At least that area is designed for kids, unlike oh, say, the toy aisle at a thrift store.

Funny you should mention that; someone I know works in a thrift store and the toy aisles are pretty much a permanent disaster area. Parents let their kids run riot in that aisle and never pick up after them or require them to pick up after themselves. Sometimes, when I go there looking for them, I find myself kicking toys out of the middle of the floor so people don't trip on them.

She herself has plenty of stories she could tell, if she was on this site.

[mjr]

Not to play "topper" here, but when I worked at King of Burgers (a small franchised one), I was told by an employee that another employee and her boyfriend had sex in the ball pit after hours...

[Becks]

For all of Arby's flaws, at least they don't have play areas.
I'm so glad.

[Shotgun Chuck]

For all of Arby's flaws, at least they don't have play areas.
I'm so glad.

Yeah, it seems like, wherever there are toys or bright colors or other "kiddy" stuff around, adults sink to the level of children.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Not to play "topper" here, but when I worked at King of Burgers (a small franchised one), I was told by an employee that another employee and her boyfriend had sex in the ball pit after hours...

Suddenly an extra hour in the ball pit seems a lot less interesting.

...or does it?

[the lawsmeister]

Not to play "topper" here, but when I worked at King of Burgers (a small franchised one), I was told by an employee that another employee and her boyfriend had sex in the ball pit after hours...

You know I'm having trouble deciding which part of this is worst. Kids playing in the ball pit after people shagging in it, or shagging in a ball pit after kids have played in it.

[MadMike]

My son used to work at a McDonald's as a maintenance person, and his biggest complaint was having to reset the alarm for the idiots who used the emergency exit as a regular exit. Sure, there was a kid or two who did it, not knowing any better, but most of the time it was an adult who didn't want to walk the 10 feet or so to the regular exit.

[Shotgun Chuck]

So maybe it's just fast food that brings out the worst in people?

[pitmonkey]

They are puked in and peed in

[Sapphire Silk]

Not to play "topper" here, but when I worked at King of Burgers (a small franchised one), I was told by an employee that another employee and her boyfriend had sex in the ball pit after hours...

Aaagh! I so did not need to read that.

Suddenly an extra hour in the ball pit seems a lot less interesting.

...or does it?

Depends on how hard the balls are.

[jedimaster91]

Suddenly an extra hour in the ball pit seems a lot less interesting.

...or does it?

Depends on how hard the balls are.

So glad I was in between bites of my snack. Broccoli through the nose would hurt. A lot.

[ApolloSZ]

Sadly you don't even need a kids area.... this happened in my country recently (not my city, small comfort that is) ...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/fo...land-McDonalds