Complacency of Burger King Manager

Just wanted to share a quick update.
Apparently TPTB at BK agreed with the view point that the manager
should have at least made an attempt to speak to the mother. I
actually received a phone call from a representative, which was
unexpected.
She basically said that, regardless of the child's mental age, if she
was physically too large to be on the play equipment, then it was a
safety hazard for both her and the other children. And the manager
should have spoken with the mother.

I would have asked the woman to have her daughter move so that the
children could exit the slide. I would have then waited to see whether
or not the woman persuaded her daughter to leave the playground. If
she did not, only then would I have approached the manager. The
manager, btw, seems to know the girl in question and should know,
handicap or not, she is too big to play on the playground.

sounds like a combination of bad parenting on the part of the girl's
mother and bad managing on the part of the manager. i know what i
would have done if i had been you. i would have marched over and
explained that my son was going to be physically sick and unless they
wanted to be held legally liable they'd better move and then, knowing
me, i would have made sure they moved. maybe not politically correct,
but when it comes to my kid, all bets are off.

When my daughter was 3, she was playing on a McDonald's play place.
She went up in one of the compartments and was blocked in by a much
larger child. Was that child physically hurting her? No. Was she
perceived as a threat by my daughter? Certainly. All she knew was
that she was being prevented from leaving the play place and she was
terrified! I had to go up and rescue her even though the girl left
and she could have gotten down herself.

I have to agree with a previous poster that said that the manager
appeared to know that the child was older than the posted age. I
would have to guess that since he was aware of her mental state, he
knew that she was too old for the play place but decided against
intervening.

I don't think that's right. Hopefully management will receive this
letter and speak with the mother about taking her daughter to a more
age appropriate setting. There are outdoor parks that are better
equipped for larger children.

Since no one was injured when attempting to turn around in the
tunnel,and evidently they all managed to do get out, what is the point
of this letter?

The manager knew the child was handicapped and according to your
letter, the mother was trying to get the girl off the play equipment.
Should they have ganged up on her and removed her by dragging her off?


I guess I would have explained to my child that some kids are just
different and although she looked bigger than kids their age,
apparently in her mind she is about the same age.

I see this situation two ways. First, I think the mother of the girl
was rather lax in this situation. Surely she saw that her daughter was
blocking part of the equipment and that it was causing the other
children problems. It was inconsiderate on the part of the mother.

Second, in regards to the manager, I understand there are signs that
state play is at your own risk, and yes, it should be up to the
parents to monitor their own children's behavior. However, management
is not absolved completely of responsibility because they have an
obligation to ensure their property is being used appropriately. I
feel the manager should've done more in this situation.

If we're going to tell the OP that she should've handled the situation
herself then we should go back to the Panera letter to the left and
tell that OP the same thing. I know many will say this letter is
different, but to me it's not. To me, this is still about lax
parenting forcing staff to intervene. Yes, the OP could've talked to
the other parent herself, but I think she did the right thing. The
manager unfortunately didn't.

And, just a general question, and I don't mean to be snarky, would
this letter garner a different reaction had the girl in this case not
been handicapped?

Okay, in the future, I will take your collective advice and approach
the parent. I guess I have seen/heard so many times where the parent
of an unruly/misbehaving child(and I really want to stress that I
didn't know/think she was handicapped until the manager said so!) gets
bent out of shape when you ask them to kindly restrain their child
from throwing blocks at the other children, or screeching obscenities
in the restaurant(true stories, I swear), that I usually skip that
step in favor of having someone who has "authority" (albeit a meager
sort) step in.
Like I said, I'll take your collective advice under consideration for
sure, but that's where I was coming from when I approached the
manager.

What would you have done out on a playground with no authority figure
to go to? That's what you should have done this time.

Personally, I would have kindly approached the mother and asked her to
help me run interference.

If, indeed, the child was handicapped, as the manager said, the mother
surely would have explained.

I do not know how you would know this young girls age. Some kids look
older than they really are.

I'm sure that a lot of people will not agree with me, but I think YOU
should chill out. This girl was only blocking one tunnel, it is not
the end of the world for you or your children. You should be teaching
your children tolerance and compassion. I am sure the Burger King play
area was a treat for her just as it was for your children, and if shes
not hurting anyone, then whats the problem? I would have encouraged my
son to play with her.