parents give me odd looks!

[cec080]

allrighty us older people got that look at cec! one day i was visiting this location and i did'nt have anysigns on that i was a part of cec i felt like they were going to toss me out by my ear. now i make sure i wear my pins and or my t-shirt i had custom made with the listing of the stores i've been too on the back. let me tell you when you get that feel it just ruins the trip... i wonder how many phone calls cec ent. got yesterday about me....... parents see 4 adults walking into cec what are they thinking...... when in doubt talk to a manager explain to them who you are and what is your purpose of today's visit! many managers will let you in as long as you buy something! it's not like jeepers where we don't serve adults pizza and your not welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:rollin

[pizzacam]

Man, join the club I'm used to it...I get stares already cause I'm in a wheelchair, 23 and at Chuck E Cheese but if I get stared at or someone says something I just wave to 'em with my middle finger and smile ;)

[Rapid T Rabbit]

You think that was bad? At least it was only stares..here's what happened to me last November:

I went with a friend up to White Plains NY in Westchester County so I could see a scheduled nationwide Care Bears promo appearance that was happening at certain SIMON shopping malls across the country at the same time. I had helped promote this nationwide appearance across the several Care Bears fan websites I belong to and I thought it would be nice to report on one of the mall sites and post a couple of pictures for other fans to see. At the time, I was wearing a Care Bears baseball cap and Tenderheart Bear sweatshirt. I got there just as the mall was opening up for business, and not too long after found the event stage where the storytelling hour was to take place. There were posters and display tables set up already. So I sat down at a bench that would have been a couple of yards behind where the kids who would be participating would sit on the floor. It was a few minutes later when a mall manager and security guard walked right up to us with a very stern look. They didn't like the fact that we were a couple of older guys with cameras wearing Care Bear t-shirts, waiting to take a picture of Funshine Bear when he came out. I explained everything right up front but I was told that it was forbidden to take any pictures in the mall, and they had cameras all over the place watching everything. So, did I waste the trip? The simple show got underway, which was really just a storytelling session, with a lady reading from one of the new "Share-a-story" books that recently came out (which you can have certain Care Bear plushes actually recite from). Before getting into the story, the storyteller asked the kids in the audience who their favorite Care Bears were, and after taking a few responses, she followed up with, "Was anybody here a Care Bear for Halloween?" I swear, I almost had a heart attack right there! No, I didn't raise my hand...Then Funshine Bear walked out and they read the story out loud. After that, all the parents and kids lined up to have their picture taken with Funshine. So, now I was in one of those terrible moments of frustration and exclusion that sometimes befall me. Getting a picture of or with Funshine Bear wasn't supposed to be a hassle or a big deal, but now it has. So I got into the tail end of the line with all the other parents and kids. I then appealed again to one of the event handlers for permission just to get our picture taken, who replied that this was really supposed to be just for kids but then turned to ask Security again about us. Finally the hosts said okay as long as we didn't take any pictures of other kids, to which I replied that was NEVER our intention in the first place, further mentioning how I helped plug this event across the Care Bears fan webring. I don't know if they were actually trying to be polite or just insure the pictures were only of me, but they held my cameras for me and snapped the pictures of us and Funshine together. Mission accomplished, and we then went to the Food Court for lunch but I still couldn't help feeling somewhat upset about the whole thing. Nevertheless, we both kept calm through the situation and at the same time did not give up.
http://www.bobdbob.com/~rtrabbit/fursuit/funshineskyrc.jpg
Still, that begs the question. Is our world so darn paranoid now that everyone and everything that is unusual is now suspicious? You can't show up at a kids show because you might be a predator? You can't be a train buff because you might be looking for a place to plant a bomb? Are all "fans" under fire in this manner because groups like these show "too much" interest in something specific?

Thank God I have Tenderheart Bear standing by me all the time, without him, not only would I not get to be around the Care Bears in person much at all, but I would be practically totally without any connections to any famous appreciable characters today, given my declining mascot fortunes onstage in recent years.

[cec080]

very intresting rapid t rabbit! pizzacam good idea with the finger though i don't go for it! :D :D in a similar instance i was at a new cec i explained to these parents that i knew the general manager and district manager they hurried up and ran out with there kids so i don't know! it makes me wonder what america's coming too...

"Holybatmunch there are adults going into
Chuck E. Cheese's.":rollin

[RodHouTx]

Rapid, which one in the picture is you? The person on the left looks familiar.

[joshferrell]

I usually tell the mothers that I'm there to pick up single mothers,(just kidding):hat

[pizzacam]

:lol Good one!

[Rapid T Rabbit]

Rapid, which one in the picture is you? The person on the left looks familiar.

I'm on the right wearing the Tenderheart Bear sweatshirt. The one on the left with the Grumpy Bear t-shirt is Skyfirefox.

[JyPsy]

I get that a lot at CeCs and toys r us.

It really drives me up a wall how people are so paranoid that every adult is some kind of deviant.

I guess in all fairness, the vast majority of adults are and were taught to "put away childish things".

True, it is usually better safe than sorry, but people need to realize that sometimes us adults have hobbies that stem from great memories from our childhoods.

I have gotten questions from staff that have had parents come up to them asking what i was doing there, but i normally just explain im here to have a good time, and just remembering many memories of this place as a kid, and they normally leave me alone.

[thatsmilingface]

Just like JyPsy, I too have had problems with CEC employees.

In September of last year I got banned from CEC in Fort Collins, Colorado because some little girl made up a story about me. (She claimed I asked her if I could take her pic with my camera phone.)

I don't know why she would make something up like that, when I didn't even say anything to her.

CEC Entertainment hasn't listened to me or taken down my side of the incident; instead, they're standing behind the word of the kid's mother (who thought the kid was telling the truth).

In spite of this ban being limited to only Fort Collins' CEC, I'm boycotting the chain as a whole until they resolve this.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Well thankfully i have luckily never had any real serious issues when it comes to going to CEC myself....part of that may be that everyone up here knows me anyway! LOL! :lol

Seriously though...i suppose in other states when i travel and i stop by a CEC their may be folks who are bent and i just don't realize it. Of course, i have the "advantage" of being female...and so when i am there enjoying the place everyone automatically assumes i am there as a "mother". I'll never be one, but it's nice to know i can use this to my "advantage" in a case like this....lol! ;)

When i worked in our District, we would keep our eye on anyone "suspicious"...it has to be said. I would have CM's notify me of someone who just came in without a kid, is a older person ( usually male) and is more then a bit out of place in that enviroment. Being a CEC enthusiest, you would think i would be cool about this...but i have to honestly say that i would usually tell them to just keep a awareness about him and whatever you do don't let him leave with a kid! Even this would sometimes backfire, as we would have many Dad's come in to pick up their kid(s) from a Birthday Party. This would make Kid Check a bit chaotic....but we never had any real issues in regards to kid-napping.

So yeah...i can easily see how some male fans going to their local CEC could raise some of the Staff's eyebrows ( or even tempers). I would say that if anyone was to blame, it's NOT the Staff....they are doing their job really when it comes to that type of enviroment. I would blame society as a whole..as after all it's the crazy crap that crazy people have done in the past that forced CEC to "enforce" certain "rules".

It still sucks though if you love to go for nostalgia purposes, or like to go to have a meal and watch the Show. I say get to know your local CEC's management staff or the CM's and things will be a lot easier. Once they are aware that you are a "fan' and not a "child stalker" the more welcome they will make you. Also, it will make them want you to visit more often!

Good luck guys...and if all else fails just come to Danvers! Everyone is welcome here!:D

[Rapid T Rabbit]

Indeed Jenn, it really makes me miss "the good old days in Union NJ" when everybody was welcome at store #3006, and in fact I did get to know the management and cast there somewhat, and felt warmly welcomed there anytime, for at least two years before I was readily hired as a cast member.

Regarding your advantage of being "female" and how older males raise red flags as appearing to be out of place in that guest environment...recently a mascot performer I know up in Canada told me how he perceives ongoing discrimination against males in many costume character roles, because females are not likely to be child molesters. How low has this world become now because of the misdeeds of a few that ruin it for the rest of us?

[YoungCaliHottie]

i was in the fraud investigation dept of a retailer for a couple years, and at least they had the right attitude. everyone in the dept was told to remain polite and not treat anyone badly (well of course unless they do something or you have good reason to think theyre going to). the dept was always told that less than 1% of customers would commit fraud, so dont ruin the other 99% by treating everyone like criminals. its too bad the people you guys have dealt with dont know anything about logic, statistics, or common courtesy. it sounds like they should all be re-trained on how to approach those types of situations.

i personally havent had any problems like those though. i usually am friendly with all the employees, so they pretty much know me at all the cecs around here. when i used to go to cecs for the first time (ive been to almost all in socal now tho), i would usually ask for the manager and introduce myself. sometimes if i could tell they were friendly i might even get to know them... ya kno, find out how long theyve been in the co, if they remember the rae, if they worked for spp or ptt, etc...

the only problems i ever have with employees is when theyre not doing their jobs. maybe cuz i go so much i know how everything is supposed to be. and it makes me mad when...
...theres no one at kid check
...no one at merch
...only 1 person at the register
...8 people "bussing" aka doing nothing around the gameroom/showroom
...the stage is at 40% volume
...food is sitting waiting for service
...the salad bar is running low
...the soda machines are out of ice
...the bathrooms are dirty
...the games don't work
...the stage movements dont work
...the cast member who finally gets to the merch counter wont take my tickets from another store
...and when employees forget to put the damn showtape back in after finishing a bday! >: grrr!

...phew... feel much better now that i got all that out. :lol