Half Written Stories
by Nile Flores (September 13, 2011)

My life
- Will it always be filled with half written stories?
The cliché
- “So many things to do, so little time”
I have fallen into such a vicious game
Always wanting to do
but never able to do it
the words pile up in my mind
filling it like an endless well
and yet it all sits
becoming stale and stagnant
waiting for me to find the time to draw it out
will there ever be time
or will I always be worth a bunch of half written stories?

Back in 2001, I worked the summer at Cedar Point Amusement Park, in Sandusky, Ohio. I worked a lot of hours, but had a blast on the days I got off. I remember one day I stepped into the only buffet restaurant they had and Snoopie was there.

Just a little side note, Cedar Point has a place for the Peanut characters that is an area filled with rides and games just for the kiddies. So, back to the story… Snoopie made an appearance at the restaurant and was greeting all the children.

I remember all of a sudden this big guy practically jumped over his table and tackled Snoopie. He then started beating the tar out of Snoopie. The thing is, the person within the costume was a barely 5 foot tall girl. She did not know what hit her and by the time everything was done, she had to be sent to the hospital and kids were hysterically crying. Of course, a lot of the parents were upset too.

I wondered: What set off that man? What did Snoopie do to him? Did it ever occur to him that he would probably traumatize a lot of children for some time?

People are strange in their ways. I will never know why someone does this or that. In this case, even though I was a single gal at the time, I chipped in to comfort the children and try to help them understand the situation. Although I did not know everything, all I could say was – “That man was just a bad man who probably never got the time to meet such a cool character like Snoopie. If he had, he would have been nice to Snoopie.”

Sometimes the answer does not have to totally be correct, but in this situation, children are looking for comfort, and not confusion.

I was born in 1980 and grew up knowing the experience of playing in a McDonalds’ PlayPlace. Of course, regardless of the years I was a child… as a mom, the decade between, the PlayPlace has changes.

The PlayPlace is bigger and something adults SHOULD monitor when their child or children play.

Even if you make your child or children wash their hands before eating at McDonalds, they still carry on their body and clothing the germs of children that are classmates. Imagine the number of children to the usual McDonalds you visit, the seemingly popularity of other kids playing, and the actual population of your town. Even if you are a city that is 190,000 people, and 3 McDonalds (like Belleville, Illinois), you have quite a bit of children visiting the PlayPlace.

Normally (and this is my knowledge as an employee of a Belleville, Illinois McDonalds located across a high school of a 2,500+ student population – Belleville Township High School East… back in 1999) children are going to be plentiful, buck wild, and as a parent, you are going to scold your kid for things you believe they should not do.

However, what happens in public should not be at home, even if you are a parent so laid back that jumping on the bed or couch is shrugs at.

Despite the fact that even though I myself grew up in a military family (a family that moved constantly based on the needs of the U.S Government), I grew uo to respect what my parents and grandparents bought. Even thought it seemed like fun, jumping on the bed and the couch were things I remember being scolded for when I was young.

Today, I do the same to my son, my nephews, and nieces.

The thing a lot of folks in he 20s and 30s that were early parents fail to teach is respecting what is bought for the home and to last. No matter what it is – from the walls of a house to a bed or toy, it can be destroyed.

However, for those who are parents, we can teach our child or children how important it is to take care of what we currently have by just telling them. For those even new as parents in their teens, they can explain to their child(ren) that if they like a toy or game and want it to last, they only have to take care of it.

When I go shopping at the mall and some outlet stores, I hear from the sales clerk, “What is your email address?”

And I am like, “Huh? Why?”

“So you can be updated with new items from the store?” is the response I most commonly hear from the sales clerk.

I do understand why companies are jumping on the bandwagon to snag email addresses, but when I get tons of spam, even outside my server’s Spam Assassin and all the filters I have placed, it gets to be tiresome.

SO… I stopped giving out my email address at the stores.

And if you notice, a lot of stores, especially in the United States (usually within the mall and some select stores), they even ask for zip code. I am sure it has to do with how the company can gauge where they should be advertising, and also alert the main headquarters statistics on where their customers are coming from.

However, I am a bit leery of beign asked for my email address. I already spend enough time online that if I really wanted to know about what is new in a store, I would subscribe directly from the store’s website, rather than ask clerks to type in an extra field and make people wait a little longer. Give them a break.

I think if companies truly want to reach their shoppers, especially since there are so many people online, even on Facebook – invest in advertising to attract fans to subscribe. Use the power of social media, rather than make store sales clerks feel like they are encouraging spam. I feel sorry for them. The one time I worked for a retailer I refused to ask for email addresses and gave the general manager a logical response. It just cheapens the experience and really, all people want to do is buy what they took off the rack or shelf and go on to the next thing they want to do.