Michael sweetly called on his way home to tell me that he wanted to take us out for a fun family night. For tonight that meant we went to McDonalds where the kids could play while we visited. This eased my mind about dinner prep and sounded relaxing. One other significant piece of background information: I was really high strung already this evening. So we got to McDonald's (wow, haven't been there in FOREVER. Thank heavens ;)) and it was packed. I went in to the play area with Lizzie and Sabrina while Kate waited with M to bring the food back. A few minutes after the girls got to playing 3 teenage boys came barreling in. They rushed right into the play structure. Big eyeroll from me. Then they started shoving around kids and periodically shrieking. Not cool. Then they were non-stop shouting and my girls walked past with concerned expressions. So I grabbed an employee washing tables in there and asked her to speak to the boys. They were spread out in the play structure, so she apologetically asked them to please get out since they're too big. They laughed and didn't move. Not. Cool. Then Liz came down and said she wasn't comfortable playing in there any more. Dude. Y'all are in trouble. Remember how I was already on edge? I marched over there to where I could see one of the boys and told them quite firmly that they were not allowed in the play area and needed to leave so the children it was designed for could use it. Their witty retort? "It's a free country!" I had my cane out with me this evening and I was holding myself back from climbing inelegantly into the maze of tubes and slides to play a round of Whack-a-Mole. Instead, I turned around and walked out. I wasn't in the mood to be arrested. I went out to see why on earth Michael and Kate weren't back yet. It had been a full 10 minutes since ordering. I told Michael what was going on. The lady who had politely asked the boys to leave talked to the manager. A few minutes later the manager came out and told them they were not permitted in the play area and needed to leave immediately. They shouted at her. They were alternately shrieking and yelling "It's a free country!". The lobby was packed and the manager had to go back out. She just told someone to tell her if they stayed in there. After a few more minutes (yes, still no food) Michael poked his head in to ask if they were still messing around. By then Lizzie and Sabrina had both come out and sat by me because they were uncomfortable with the boys in there. The boys kept pushing past them and any time they pushed my little girls around they shouted "It's a free country!". So when Michael FINALLY got our food, he told the boy at the register that there were teenage boys STILL in the play area and they were causing a lot of problems. Enter: The Reason I Am Not Writing This Rant to McDonald's Corporation. He ran out from behind the counter and into the play area. He caught my eye and asked if the boys were still in there. When the boys refused to come down again he climbed right in and flushed them out. (Side note: at least two other families with children gathered up their food and their kids and had already left because of these boys.) He lined up the boys and asked them what they were doing. He asked them their ages (14/15). He showed them the rules posted on the play equipment and on the door they had come in. He then lined them up and marched them out of the play area and directly TO THEIR PARENTS! Michael walked past on his way with our food (finally) and heard him telling the parent about complaints, noncompliance with rules, refusal to obey requests form management, etc.. THANK YOU to that employee for following up all the way and not putting up with their crap. Moral: "It's a Free Country" is a lousy excuse for jerky behavior. Also: don't push my kids around, or shriek in an echo chamber when I've had a headache and not enough food. via Facebook
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