Kids Should be Treated with Respect, Burger King

Having worked in a movie theatre for over 4 years, I have my share of
kid stories. There was a movie that was rated in such a way that
anyone under 14 had to be accompanied by a parent. If the child came
up to me to buy a ticket without an adult, I couldnt sell it. Once an
adult came up, I could.
If a child ordered a ticket and wanted a refund i would still have to
have an adult present, they could have had someone buy a ticket for a
movie they arent allowed to see.

Why are we teaching children to even care about things like getting
the same toy? I have nothing but love for my son,who is also 8, but he
would never complain to me about getting the same toy. Why? Because I
would promptly remind him that there are kids all over that don't have
toys at all.

The problem with children is that they are born self centered, thats a
fact, and they can't really help that. The problem with some parents
is that as their child grows, they don't bother to teach them any
other way.

And why must we poison the bodies of young people by feeding them
Burger King?

It all depends upon your grandson's behavior at the counter and his
maturity.

If the cashier was taking an order, and he interrupted demanding
another toy, I can see how the cashier, at BK of all places, would get
rid of him pretty quick.

If he went up to the counter, waited patiently, said; "Can I please
have a different toy?", I think the employee is in the wrong.

I know from experience, I worked at Wendy's for a year. If the
grandson is a little kid that runs around the dining room making a
mess and barges up to the counter with a sense of over entitlement, I
think the manager was not too far out of line by sending him on his
way with a "no".

Were you close by when your grandson asked? Are you sure that he did
not interrupt an employee that was busy with orders? And just
because the dining area isn't busy doesn't mean that the drive through
area isn't either. When asking, did he say "Excuse me,..."? Did he ask
for a specific toy or just any other toy? And did he say "Thank you"?


Respect goes two ways, and if you weren't there then you don't know
that the employee was being disrespectful. It could have been a simple
misunderstanding. You don't want to teach your grandson to jump to
conclusions either.

. . .a recurrent argument with my 11 year old. These stupid toys (and
I'm sorry, they are all cheap and stupid!) are not worth this much
effort.

I don't disagree that kids should get some respect, but I don't see
this as a respect issue - more an annoyed staffer fed up with these
silly chachke items with the child's meals and kids wanting to see
EVERY toy they have in the store because they've already "collected"
half of them. I'd have been irked too.

I'm actually on the OP's side here. The grandson got a duplicate toy,
so he asked the manager if he could have a different one. There is no
harm in asking. He was told "no", but when the mom did it, apparently
they had an abundance of different toys because she was able to get
one and the kid wasn't.

So the manager lied to the kid because he was too lazy to look for a
different toy for him. I think that's kind of crappy on his part.

So you think they should have an unending variety of toys to hand out?
I see a lot of misplaced drama and handwringing over some duplicate
toys here.

And now we have helicopter grandparenting. Awesome.

I'm not really understanding how your grandson was not treated with
respect. I gather from your telling of the events that he first went
to ask for a SPECIFIC toy, and they didn't have it. Then, when his
mother asked for ANY different toy, they gave her one. What exactly
was the problem here? If the manager was really "short" with him (and
were you with him during the exchange? If so, you should specify
exactly what was said).I don't see what "mistake" the manager made
that he needs to apologize for.

Can you provide more details. What was said? There's a wide spectrum
here from "no, we don't exchange toys" (not rude) to "we're out of
toys" (a lie*, so it's inappropriate, but not necessarily rude) and
"get out of my face, you little bogger" (very rude and
inappropriate).

I think getting as exact as you can with what the kids were told would
really help make your case.

* This, too, also depends. Did it mean that they're out of toys?
That all they have are the two kinds and the employee thought the
child was asking for a third kind? If it was, say, the later, it's
not a lie, but a misunderstanding.

Thanks. Now my doctor father wants to go to Burger King and ask for a
toy.

I never knew exchanging toys was an option when I was a kid. If I got
doubles, I just traded them with other kids.