No, dear, that's not a Happy Meal

[khaosworks]

Boy stuck on Ronald McDonald
SOAP FREES 4-YEAR-OLD; STATUE IS TAKEN AWAY
By Rodney Foo
Mercury News

Ryan Roberts has a message for parents: Don't let your kids climb over statues of Ronald McDonald.

Last week, his 4-year-old son, Joey, somehow got his head wedged in between the legs of a life-size, grinning fiberglass clown -- the fast-food chain's trademark -- at the Kooser and Blossom Hill roads McDonald's restaurant. The mishap triggered an ordeal that ended when employees finally lathered the 40-pound preschooler's head with liquid soap and slipped him out.

Joey emerged unscathed. Nonetheless, Roberts, 34, believes statues like this one, in which the figure is seated with legs crossed ankle over knee, ought to exiled. ``These things ought to be removed,'' he said.

In fact, workers at the Princeton Plaza restaurant immediately removed the statue, said Mike Henry, a spokesman for McDonald's Pacific-Sierra region. Henry described the mishap as an ``isolated incident.''

``We take this matter very seriously,'' he added. ``No one cares more about the safety of our customers, especially children.''

The incident occurred about 7:15 p.m. Friday, when Roberts took his three sons and his girlfriend, Linda Dwyer, and her granddaughter for hamburgers. As Dwyer went to the counter to order, Joey made a beeline for the statue and began to climb on it.

He was stuck for 35 minutes.

But Roberts soon noticed his son struggling to get his head out of the opening where the statue's legs crossed.

``I thought it was funny at first . . . the more I realized I couldn't get his head out of there, I felt panicked,'' Roberts said. And by this time, Joey was crying. The ordeal lasted 35 minutes, Roberts said. But Henry said employees reported the boy was stuck for only 10 minutes.

Color me unsympathetic, but any kid who sticks his head in Ronald McDonald's crotch deserves whatever he gets.

Comments

[dietbubba.livejournal.com]

I am going to have to replace my work keyboard. I just sprayed soda all over it.

He thinks the statues should be removed? I think he should have his kid under control.

[cellio]

Oh, of course. It's the restaurant's fault; it couldn't possibly be the kid's fault, or the parent's, now could it? Sheesh.

The world contains dangers. Learn to cope.

[daphnis.livejournal.com]

What color IS unsympathetic, by the way? Puce? Chartreuse? A sneering shade of orange? An unflattering olive-green?


Howcome when a kid gets stuck someplace, it's a bad parent's fault, but when a kitten or a puppy does it, people think it's either cute or a trigger for frantic and dramatic rescue action, with lots of cameras and TV coverage? Exactly how long does it take for a small person to have a mishap, anyway? What's the going fine for making an innocent mistake or even going exploring at all?