The Rest of the Story

There was a little more to the Toys R' Us visit than I mentioned in my last post.  As the girls and I were leaving the store, only one register in the gaming section was open, and a couple of employees pointed us to the cordoned off area where video games, Nintendos and Wii's are sold.  

Just inside the area there was a large screen playing game images of soldiers at war.  This included guns being fired, realistic looking people being shot and explosions with bodies hurtling through the air.  Of course, the girls were completely mesmerized by it and I was furious.  This game was recommended only for kids over 14, yet here were my kids getting a free sneak peek. 

So, I protested to the guy behind the counter.  His answer, "Oh, corporate tells us what to show on that, I can't change it."  

I asked him to turn it off.  He couldn't.  I asked him to turn down the volume.  He couldn't do anything.  Corporate was the problem, he wouldn't let his little kids see such things either.

Then, much to my children's dismay, I went ballistic.  "It's a local management decision to only open this register," I started, "and therefore, it's a local management decision to expose my children to this crap, so call your manager NOW!"  

While my children pretended not to know me, the manager came over, apologized and opened another register for me in the bank of 10 registers that sat dark in the middle of the store.  However, there was a problem.  The cashier didn't know how to use any of these registers.  Seriously, it took him 20 minutes to figure out how to ring me out.  By the time I left, I was beyond annoyed.  

Think about it, showing a teen game to little kids is the equivalent of showing them a sex scene from a PG13 movie.  Would this ever be acceptable?  Of course not.  But, for some reason, shooting and killing is okay.  Isn't that warped?  And even odder, the guy first acted like I was nutty when I started complaining.  I know for a fact that neither of my kids had ever seen something like that, and frankly, I don't want them to see that stuff for as long as I can avoid it.  I have no problem with the ad, but I don't think it should be near the entrance where little kids are likely to see it.  It should be in the back, where the big kids can go find it.  'Cuz let's face it, the intended audience will find it anywhere it's place.

So, now I'm fighting my little crusade against the evil empire of Toys R' Us.  I've fired off an email that supposedly was forwarded to "corporate".  I doubt it will get far, so be warned.  If you're opposed to your kids seeing violence, don't go into the gaming section at Toys R' Us.