Bastard children bothering you as you play...

[DrLove0378]

It's time we went straight to the complaint department, because this is really pissing me off! First thing on my list tonight -- Bastard Children Bothering Us as We Play Arcade Games. I'm sick of it, folks. Parents are always letting their children run amok in the arcade, washateria, pizza place, wherever!

 

I remember an occasion where I was playing Demolition Man Pinball in the local Pizza Inn -- it wasn't a children's playland, as is Chuck E. Cheese's, it was just the pinball machine tucked into an alcove. Well, some dead beat mom let her daughter run off, and she was standing within inches of me, trying to watch, etc. I've been known to attract an audience as I play, and I don't mind it, as long as viewers keep the proper distance, and don't breathe down my neck.

 

I always take advantage of the "good deal" pricing -- in this case, 5 games for $2. I was playing exceptionally well that night, methodically passing the 500M, 600M, 700M marks. Well, that girl comes a little too close, and tries to push the start button. We all know that if you press start during a game (with credits in the machine,) it automatically ends the game. So I tell her to GET AWAY, and kinda raise my voice doing so. At no point did I make contact with her. I had almost made it to the "Demolition Time" bonus round, but I lost my concentration, and was unable to score much more.

 

Normally, this would have been no big thing, but I was with my family that night, and they haven't let me hear the end of it.

 

 

It happened again a couple of times in '06... I was at the washateria playing Donkey Kong, and some girl tried to touch the controls as I played. I shouted at her to GET LOST -- again, not making contact with her. After I did that a few times, the mother comes and pulls her daughter away, saying "Get back over here! The man is playing a game," then back to me, "And don't talk to my child like that ever again!"

 

I said, "Yes, ma'am..." but you know what I REALLY wanted to say? "Learn to control your fatherless children in public places, and we'll talk!"

 

 

It happened a third time this past year, in the arcade. I was playing Ms. Pac-Man, and was coming close to a score of 110,000. I still had three lives left. Well, another mother lost control of her young son, who tried to edge me out of the way, touch the controls, etc. A Cherry walks onto the screen, and he's like "Oooh! Cheeeries!" ... but I had long since passed the banana board -- 5000 pts. each, biatch! So I'm trying to ignore him and keep playing, but keeps breathing his nasty air down my neck, and just before I can reach the "Junior" cut scene... GAME OVER.

 

These dead beat parents failing to take responsibility for their sprogs, make me so MAD! Sometimes I'd like to kick them AND their offspring, through the plate glass window in the front of the establishment.

 

 

Does this ever happen to y'all? If so, tell us about it!

[Atariman]

Heh. I haven't witnessed that or had it happen to me in a LOOONG time. The last time I really remember was some kid running around looking for coins in the coin slots, etc. that happened to press the start button on a pinball machine my sister was playing many, many years ago...

 

And as for Chuck E Cheese, I was just there today with my niece (offspring of my previously mentioned sister) - it really wasn't too bad playing games there. Most little kids there tended to steer clear of any adults they didn't know and I don't think I had any interrupted games (and I even got the high score for Qix on the Space Invaders/Qix game they had. The previous one was obviously not set by one of the tiny children running around the place.) Besides that, even the lower-skill games were uninterrupted (wound up getting enough tickets to buy my niece a stuffed Chuck E Cheese doll )

[bretthorror]

I can remember one time I was watching a guy play Super Mario Bros. and I was overly excited, I was saying "jump" and shit like that and when the time came in level 1-1 where you could get the hidden 1-up, I told him to jump to get an extra man and he told me to fuck off.

 

Memories.

 

As far as me getting aggravated, I don't think it could happen. I'm a rational man and I know that video games and kids go together quite well, so I can tolerate them. They generally mean no harm and most aren't very out of control, you just have to sort of understand... kids get excited and maybe their parents are too damn cheap to give them a quarter or two. I'm sure some are real pricks, but I mean in general. The day I get worked up over a video game is the day I'll throw in the towel on gaming.

 

All in all I can dig everything you say, I just wouldn't be personally bothered with it. Well, except the fatherless child stuff.

Edited January 2, 2007 by bretthorror

[Shawn]

 

Does this ever happen to y'all? If so, tell us about it!

 

1st off they are children, for the most part they mean no harm. 2nd not all of them are fatherless bastards as you put it. 3rd Your lucky that in the situations mentioned that you have not on your many ventures of repeated mistreatment of small children got onto the loosing end of a physical altercation with one of those children's parent or gaurdian for saying\doing such things weather you felt you had the right too or not. 4th and last but not least, in public places these things will happen, if you want to be in silence when you play your games play them at home.

[Crazy Climber]

Being able to deal with distractions is part of what makes a true champion. If you learn this skill you will probably be even better (it sounds like you are pretty good now) There will always be people watching and interacting with you in a public place, especially if you are setting some major records on there machines. Most of the time when kids are paying a lot of attention to your game it means they respect you and depending on there age they might even think they are helping you by pushing buttons, etc.. They just want to be a part of whats going on and a lot of the time they don't know any better. Don't get me wrong, some kids can be brats. If you think the kid is purposely trying to ruin your game then you might want to politely inform the manager of what they are doing, this way you won't look like a dick and the kids parents won't want to kill you. Many parents will take there kids side even if there kid is totally in the wrong.

[Clint Thompson]

1up, this thread made me laugh....

[maibock]

 

 

It happened a third time this past year, in the arcade. I was playing Ms. Pac-Man, and was coming close to a score of 110,000. I still had three lives left. Well, another mother lost control of her young son, who tried to edge me out of the way, touch the controls, etc. A Cherry walks onto the screen, and he's like "Oooh! Cheeeries!" ... but I had long since passed the banana board -- 5000 pts. each, biatch! So I'm trying to ignore him and keep playing, but keeps breathing his nasty air down my neck, and just before I can reach the "Junior" cut scene... GAME OVER.

 

 

were you sitting down at a cocktail cab?

[chadtower]

This guy sucks.

[Shawn]

This guy sucks.

 

BINGO!

[joeybastard]

Just for the record, none of those were my children.

[Lord Helmet]

A Cherry walks onto the screen, and he's like "Oooh! Cheeeries!" ... but I had long since passed the banana board -- 5000 pts. each, biatch!

 

 

 

 

Cherries are always worth 100pts...even after the banana stage.

 

 

Oh, and kids are kids, and while sometimes they can be a hastle (as I'm sure mine are for some people from time to time) they don't usually know any better. I'm sure your kids...if you have any, never misbehave or do anything you don't want them to do.

 

How exactly do you know that they are bastard children? Even if they are...who cares? Is it that kids fault?

 

I can understand kids getting on your nerves from time to time, but comments like the ones you are making are truly classless.

Edited January 4, 2007 by Lord Helmet

[Lauren Tyler]

I've had quite a few happen to me here and there. Last Saturday I was trying to play Time Crisis 4 and this little kid who was about 4 or 5 kept trying to take the gun and play with it, oblivious to the fact I'd just put my money in. It happened several times actually. The kid would try to play and then go to another game nearby and try to play without putting money in.

[Atarimania75]

It's time we went straight to the complaint department, because this is really pissing me off! First thing on my list tonight -- Bastard Children Bothering Us as We Play Arcade Games. I'm sick of it, folks. Parents are always letting their children run amok in the arcade, washateria, pizza place, wherever!

 

I remember an occasion where I was playing Demolition Man Pinball in the local Pizza Inn -- it wasn't a children's playland, as is Chuck E. Cheese's, it was just the pinball machine tucked into an alcove. Well, some dead beat mom let her daughter run off, and she was standing within inches of me, trying to watch, etc. I've been known to attract an audience as I play, and I don't mind it, as long as viewers keep the proper distance, and don't breathe down my neck.

 

I always take advantage of the "good deal" pricing -- in this case, 5 games for $2. I was playing exceptionally well that night, methodically passing the 500M, 600M, 700M marks. Well, that girl comes a little too close, and tries to push the start button. We all know that if you press start during a game (with credits in the machine,) it automatically ends the game. So I tell her to GET AWAY, and kinda raise my voice doing so. At no point did I make contact with her. I had almost made it to the "Demolition Time" bonus round, but I lost my concentration, and was unable to score much more.

 

Normally, this would have been no big thing, but I was with my family that night, and they haven't let me hear the end of it.

 

 

It happened again a couple of times in '06... I was at the washateria playing Donkey Kong, and some girl tried to touch the controls as I played. I shouted at her to GET LOST -- again, not making contact with her. After I did that a few times, the mother comes and pulls her daughter away, saying "Get back over here! The man is playing a game," then back to me, "And don't talk to my child like that ever again!"

 

I said, "Yes, ma'am..." but you know what I REALLY wanted to say? "Learn to control your fatherless children in public places, and we'll talk!"

 

 

It happened a third time this past year, in the arcade. I was playing Ms. Pac-Man, and was coming close to a score of 110,000. I still had three lives left. Well, another mother lost control of her young son, who tried to edge me out of the way, touch the controls, etc. A Cherry walks onto the screen, and he's like "Oooh! Cheeeries!" ... but I had long since passed the banana board -- 5000 pts. each, biatch! So I'm trying to ignore him and keep playing, but keeps breathing his nasty air down my neck, and just before I can reach the "Junior" cut scene... GAME OVER.

 

These dead beat parents failing to take responsibility for their sprogs, make me so MAD! Sometimes I'd like to kick them AND their offspring, through the plate glass window in the front of the establishment.

 

 

Does this ever happen to y'all? If so, tell us about it!

 

Dude your pathetic how could you post this kind of thing about innocent kids? I am a big video game fan but this post makes you sound like some video game addicted loser who has no idea about dealing with another human being whatsoever........i actually thought this post had some kind of joke attached to it.......well i guess the only joke here is you! Sorry to say. I would get some help!

[fire!fire!]

Well, I think people with kids have a different opinion/outlook than people without kids. I don't have kids and don't want them. I don't hate kids by any means but my maternal instinct never formed, I guess.

 

It is rare for me to get so pissed at kids as to refer to them as fatherless bastards. OK, I've never exactly said that....but I have privately thought that people should control their GD kids, or their F-ing kids...

 

But it is quite often that other poeple's kids annoy the hell out of me, especially in restaurants. Boy, my Dad would ask if we were bad..."Do you want a tour of the parking lot?" Not one for idle threats, my Dad. I love him for it now. Also he would tell another parent's kid to SHUT UP or BEHAVE or SIT DOWN in public. And he would say THEN CONTROL YOUR KID WE ARE TRYING TO HAVE A NICE DINNER if the parent told him not to talk to their kid like that.

 

I have been known to reprimand a stranger's kids when they are not around to do so. Sometimes I think kids listen to strangers more than their parents - I can clearly remember other adults gettting stern with me when my parents were not around and I pretty much shaped right up. It does not hurt a kid for a stranger to say GET AWAY. I once had a mother tell me not to talk to her kid like I did. I worked in a dental office and the kid was running in the waiting room and aggrivating everyone. I told the kid, sternly, SIT DOWN NOW. It was a miracle! The kid sat down.

 

And it does seem more often than not that when a kid is with the mother, it is not quite so well-behaved as when the father is there.

 

Once, I said the F word directed at an adult when I was 14 because she abused a horse I used to own. She hauled off and hit me in the face next to my eye. My Mom witnessed it and didn't say shit to her. She just packed us up in the car and we went home. Boy, when my Dad got home from work he nearly hit me again for saying that to an adult and he said she should have hit me twice. DANG!

 

I'm not going to flame you for your post because it made me laugh. Yeah your words are harsh but this country is going to heck perhaps in part because no one can gets kids to respect adults and behave themselves.

 

I know it is a silly video game, jeesh, kids are kids...now GET AWAY.

[DrLove0378]

Being able to deal with distractions is part of what makes a true champion. If you learn this skill you will probably be even better (it sounds like you are pretty good now) There will always be people watching and interacting with you in a public place, especially if you are setting some major records on there machines. Most of the time when kids are paying a lot of attention to your game it means they respect you and depending on there age they might even think they are helping you by pushing buttons, etc.. They just want to be a part of whats going on and a lot of the time they don't know any better. Don't get me wrong, some kids can be brats. If you think the kid is purposely trying to ruin your game then you might want to politely inform the manager of what they are doing, this way you won't look like a dick and the kids parents won't want to kill you. Many parents will take there kids side even if there kid is totally in the wrong.

 

I guess you're right -- I shouldn't let the children bother me. I don't hate children, nor am I a "videogame addict who can't deal with other human beings", as Atarimania75 put it... I just get bothered by the wrong things, sometimes.

 

I don't think ALL children are "fatherless bastards", even though that sort of thing IS a problem that's running rampant in this country. (When you see a mother in the washateria with 5 or more kids in tow, what's the first thing you think?) What makes me angry, though, is that no one will teach their children how to act. Sure, children are naturally boisterous, but nowadays, they egregiously act up in public -- and their parents don't correct them. They also get used to instant gratification, because their parents no longer have the moxie to say NO. I see nothing but bad things happening to this new generation, that was raised by TV (or perhaps the bottle of Ritalin.)

 

I almost forgot that I was a kid, once. You're right, though -- if I just lighten the f*** up and tune out the distractions, I might play even better.

[Tempest]

I guess I've never been good enough at an arcade machine to worry about missing a certain bonus item or missing the combo on a pinball machine. Sometimes I've drawn a crowd and there are usually little kids in them, but they've never been bother (other than jumping up and down excitedly). If one gets a bit too close I'll tell them to stand back a bit, but never nastily. Then again, I haven't been to an arcade with children around in years.

 

Tempest

[chadtower]

This guy got so angry at a child that he mentioned throwing the kid through a plate glass window.

OVER TWENTY FIVE CENTS.

 

Relax. Maybe you'll realize that if you actually talked to the kid instead of yelling at him to get away from you that the kid may have something to teach you. And you definitely aren't going to encourage a positive behavior by behaving as badly as the child is behaving. Any 5 year old can tell you grabbing a toy and yelling MINE MINE MINE is wrong.

 

Another thing to consider: It's not often that a random act of kindness can be performed for the low cost of a single quarter.

[Atarimania75]

This guy got so angry at a child that he mentioned throwing the kid through a plate glass window.

OVER TWENTY FIVE CENTS.

 

Relax. Maybe you'll realize that if you actually talked to the kid instead of yelling at him to get away from you that the kid may have something to teach you. And you definitely aren't going to encourage a positive behavior by behaving as badly as the child is behaving. Any 5 year old can tell you grabbing a toy and yelling MINE MINE MINE is wrong.

 

Another thing to consider: It's not often that a random act of kindness can be performed for the low cost of a single quarter.

 

Exactly what i was thinking.....for someone to get that angry as to think of throwing a kid through a plate glass window and then furthermore deciding to post that thought on here is crazy. This is whats wrong with the world today not kids.

[+FujiSkunk]

This guy got so angry at a child that he mentioned throwing the kid through a plate glass window...

 

Exactly what i was thinking...

 

Read the thread again. He's already agreed that he should lighten up.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

I've pulled crowds a few times but so far I've never had to deal with kids bugging me as I play. It is annoying, but I understand that they don't understand. Still, the parents should try at least to control their kids (but in certain cases that can be a pain at times).

[DrLove0378]

This guy got so angry at a child that he mentioned throwing the kid through a plate glass window.

OVER TWENTY FIVE CENTS.

 

I didn't get that angry at one particular child. What I was REALLY angry at, was the parents who wouldn't control their children. I was being facetious when I mentioned throwing them and their children through the front window -- I'm hard-pressed to lift a watermelon, much less pick up and throw a human. And I wouldn't even consider actually harming a kid. (Even one that needs a little roughing up. It's the parents' job, not mine.)

 

I'm just a casual gamer, and I don't have the patterns down, up until the 9th key. (Oops, wrong game.) But I can score pretty high, on a good day. In fact, I set a new personal Ms. Pac-Man record today -- 149,310, with an arcade full of screamin' kids. I made it to the board right after the second "Junior" cutscene -- board #14, I think.

 

I'm getting better at this "dealing with distraction" thing... though sometimes tuning 'em out can be hard.

[shadow460]

I've got a child, and I sympathize with the original poster. I don't treat a child rudely at all (that doesn't set a good example), but I do deal with any and every kid that requires it.

I don't care if they aren't my kid, they will not disrespect me, any other adult, or their own parents when I'm involved. If they walk up to a cabinet that I'm playing, then I'm involved. If I'm interacting with them or playing vs them, then I'm involved. If they break that rule, I tell them to stop what it is they're doing. Usually it's a case of parents telling a child "do this," or "do that," and the child doesn't listen. A very stern "Mind your mother" from a stranger works very well in these cases.

 

When they walk up to a machine and start messing with the controls, its crowd control time. I move in front of the panel to block whatever they are trying to reach, or I put a hand in front of the panel. With games like Hydro Thunder and Virtual On, I'm actually too much into the game to notice, and any small hands that grab the wheel or sticks will get broken or sprained (that's purely by accident, too). If I see them reach into the control area on such a machine, I'll tell them to step back for that very reason. Ditto for Crazy Taxi, SCUD Race, and Time Crisis (lest they get stepped on or hit with the gun). I've actually had to shoo a couple of kids out from between me and the screen when playing Time Crisis. It doesn't take much--a simple, "Excuse me" and a very fast swing of the GunCon will convince them without ever threatening them. For what it's worth, not even the adults will come within arms reach of a good Manx TT Superbike run. They'll watch in awe, but they'll keep their distance of the swinging bike.

 

Are you justified in telling a stranger's kids to get away? Yes, one hundred percent. You paid the money, it's your game for the next few minutes.

Are you justified with your anger? Well, in itself, it's not wrong. You didn't hurt the kid, did you?

Are you justified in rudeness? Absolutely not. If the kids' parents mouth off at you, ignore them.

 

That all said, I'm sick and tired of people who pull the phrase "That's my kid!! You shouldn't say/do that to them!" even when the kids are acting like little heathens. If that happened to me, and I could, I'd paddle the child myself! (Can't so that, though--that's child abuse)

Sorry folks, I'll tell you the same thing he did: "Control your kids."

My daughter doesn't act like that, no, scratch that--no child acts like that around me 'cause I won't have it. Neither should yours be allowed to act up.

The first time they screw up in a place like that, warn them. The second time, you take them home. Period.

 

Don't believe what I said earlier about them reaching into a sit down cab? Ask my gf if she logs on here--she watched me hurt my own arm playing Hydro Thunder last week, and she's seen how much pain I've been in since. I'm a 31 year old man. Imagine what that kind of force would do to a six year old if he got caught in the wheel and I didn't notice, or if he reached for the throttle at just the wrong time. Or imagine if he reached for the booster in Star Wars Racer at the same time as me...WHAM!! "Oops! Sorry, didn't see your hand there, are you gonna be ok?"

And yes, I usually draw crowds when I'm playing. I can't help it. At least four people were watching me last weekend as I beat the CPU boats twice.

Edited January 6, 2007 by shadow460

[Paranoid]

Depends on the kid. Sometimes parents really need to mind their children better and reign them in, especially in a public place.

 

Sometimes adults who are hanging out in the "kid oriented" portion of a public place need to remind themselves where they are and be able to deal with the fact that they're in the kids' territories.

 

I get my rage on pretty quick in public places where adults are inconsiderate of my 5 year old daughter. That includes just being PHYSICALLY unaware of where she is, or treating her unduly rude. I've told people, "If you step on my kid again, you better be ready to fight me" and watched the shocked expressions on their face. Sometimes I get an apology... but they watch themselves around my kid after I say something like that.

 

"If you elbow my kid in the head again, we're going to find out how much YOU like MY elbow in YOUR face, pal..."

 

Once it was a kid himself, about 11 or 12. My kid said, "Daddy, he hurt me..." I looked the kid in the eyes and said, "That is ok, honey, if he does it again, someone bigger than him is going to hurt him". His big brother was next to him, and the kid looked to his brother who was probably 16 or 17 like, "do something!" and the big brother just shrugged and went, "I'd watch out for the little girl if I were you"... But I saw the kid being intentionally mean to my kid a couple of times before I did anything.

 

At the same time, if my kid is misbehaving or getting in the way and I've warned her and she ends up getting pushed, or hurt, I usually give her very little sympathy. "You got hurt because you weren't paying attention to the people around you, and I told you to be careful".

 

or...

 

"I told you they were bigger kids and playing too rough and you would get hurt if you tried to play with them. You need to listen to me when I tell you these things".

 

So it really *is* a case-by-case basis.

 

Sounds like the original poster isn't very good with kids, though, and should work on it, before he runs into a parent like me.

 

Hollar at me, "Hey, your kid is distracting me, could you get her outta here?"

 

Or tell her, "Listen, honey, you're standing too close, don't touch the game while I'm playing".

 

Be comfortable with your AUTHORITY role over children to approach it appropriately. Yelling, "Get LOST" at a 5 year old isn't appropriate, generally. It seems like you feel stuck between one extreme, "I have NO authority over another person's kid" and the OTHER extreme, "I'll just treat the kid as if it were a PEER".

 

One more note... I think if another adult did a "mind your parent" to my kid around me, depending on the situation, they would get a "Mind your OWN business" back from me. Otherwise, I pretty much agree with Shadow's post... and I can admit, there might be situations where I'd go with it and try to shame my kid *more*... "Look at that, you've made OTHER grownups angry at you... you better be good".

 

You have to be flexible, when you're dealing with kids, though. I guess that is the key.

Edited January 6, 2007 by Paranoid

[Paranoid]

I'm getting better at this "dealing with distraction" thing... though sometimes tuning 'em out can be hard.

 

 

Try having one of your own. You'll get better at this in a hurry.

[fire!fire!]

I'm getting better at this "dealing with distraction" thing... though sometimes tuning 'em out can be hard.

 

 

Try having one of your own. You'll get better at this in a hurry.

 

Nooooo. I give you major credit for having a kid & being a good parent. Some of us choose not to have kids, for whatever reason. For myself, I have never wanted to start a family and we have "permanent accident protection" in place.

 

Yesterday we were in a restaurant and a small boy was cutting us in line for drink refills. One of the girls with me said, "Go ahead, honey." - and let him in line in front of her. He looked about 7 years old. He looked at her and said, rudely, "You're not my mother so don't call me honey." and cut us and filled his drink and walked away! WTF? I remembered this thread and thought "little bastard!" I think he was just a puney little boy and maybe was older than 7 but he sure looked little.....

 

I do get what you were saying about being in kid's territory like a kids play area - that is their place so adults are going to have to get that concept. I go to the Disney Parks here in Florida a LOT and that is one place that kids are nuts. I actually love seeing all that mess, confusion, crying and running amok because I expect it. And it is entertaining to watch the kids there. That is *their place*. Just not in a restaurant, doctor's office, library. That is where I have the painful experiences with bad kids!

 

As far as an Arcade...I think a lot of us weren't in Arcades at the age of 5!! Where I lived as a kid, and still do as an adult, the arcade games were at the skating rink and there was not a specific arcade until I was about 8-10 years old. I do remember more "hardcore gamers" being rude to us kids and acting like they owned the arcade. They also were really good and hogged the good games! Then when I got old enough to play really well, they closed the arcade and the skating rink. A few years after that the beloved skating rink became a warehouse and I was paid $25 a week to mop the whole place around the pallets and boxes. I did think as a kid that the "old guys" playing Ms Pac Man were weird - I thought that the "game room" or "arcade" was for us kids.