Chuck E. Cheese's!

Amy, Sam and I went to Chuck E. Cheese’s on Saturday in the midst of our furniture shopping. We met Amy’s brother, Dan, and his family (wife, 3 year old and 1 year old) there for dinner.

The workers at the door were freaking me out. Their job was to facilitate the Chuck E. Cheese Kid Check® Program. This is from the Chuck E. Cheese website:

When you first arrive at Chuck E. Cheese's you will pass through our Kid Check
area where parents or guardians will have their hand stamped with a number that
matches their child's. This is our special way we try to assist you in helping
that everyone who comes together leaves together. (This program is not a
substitute for adult supervision.)

These guys were probably 20 and 17 years old. The 20 year old (hereafter referred to as Creepy VonMolester) was giving the little intro spiel and stamping families with their black light-activated number. He informed us that we had to order our food and then they would get us a table. So much for the “we’ll play and the order some food” idea.

He then opened the movie theater-like rope so that we could enter the food-ordering area. The rope was attached to the wall by a magnet…very secure. And, let me tell you, Creepy VonMolester was very imposing…NOT!

After ordering our food ($38 for a pizza, drinks, 100 tokens and salad bar for one), we were taken to our table. It was situated about 75’ from the stage. Not too far, but not too close either. There were 4 parties going one that monopolized the front. We didn’t stay at our table long before heading to the entertainment area.

I won’t bore you with all of the little games that Sam played, but some of them were fun for him; most of them were a little too old. Instead, I will make some observations about the entertainment area that is crucial Chuck E. Cheese:
1) There are a lot of sloppy-looking fat people at Chuck E. Cheese. Now, I know that I am a big guy. However, I always dress nicely, keep everything tucked in and am groomed. These people were wearing tight-ass clothes, wife-beaters (it was only 9 degrees out!!!), or matching purple jogging suits.
2) There are a lot of fat kids at Chuck E. Cheese. Really fat.
3) Parents DO NOT watch their kids at Chuck E. Cheese.
4) It is apparently okay to walk barefoot around a restaurant if there is skeeball under the same roof.
5) One girl was camped out in front of the same machine from the time that we got there until the time that we left. I can’t imagine how many thousands of tickets were piled on the ground in front of her. Her parents kept bringing tokens to her. After delivering the tokens, the dad went back to sleeping in the booth and the mom went back to playing Bejeweled on her iPhone. Her daughter stunk, wasn’t wearing shoes, and didn’t have a coat with her or in the booth…but she had an iPhone.
6) Skeeball is very addicting.

After playing for about 30 minutes, someone ventured to our table to find that our pizza was there and kind of cold. It wasn’t bad. I will also say that the salad bar was excellent. It had small containers and the girl there was constantly refilling the bins with fresh items. Amy and I did buck the system…we split a plate for the salad bar. I think it was like $4 per plate.

Then, the show came on. I was wondering to myself, “Self, what do you think Chuck has selected to entertain this new generation of children. Imagine my surprise when the following setlist was set forth:
I Think We’re Alone Now – Tiffany (1986)
Everybody Wants to Rule the World – Tears for Fears (1985)
Shout – Tears for Fears (1985)

I would bet you anything that I saw the same show when I was a kid. It is both ridiculous and perfect. The kids don’t care what songs are on and the parents are entertained.

At the end of the recorded show, a "live" Chuck E. Cheese came out to lead a conga line. At one point, he had the kids get down on all fours and crawl around on the floor of the restaurant. That's nice for the restaurant to encourage kids to get their hands all dirty and then either go eat or go touch all of the games.

Sam wanted cotton candy. Cotton candy was 200 tickets. So, I rose to the challenge and Skeeballed it up. Later, I come to find out that now you can just buy the stuff for a penny per ticket. That would have saved some time.

On the way out, they were supposed to check our numbers to make sure that they were the same. They checked ours just fine, but the family in front of us didn’t want to bother with the hassle of holding their hands under the black light. What did Creepy VonMolester do? Nothing. He just said “Oh yeah…I remember that ya’ll came in together. "

Nice.

I don’t see us going back anytime soon.

Privacy Act stupidity, the growing rudeness in the healthcare world & Wal-mart (but not in combination)

So, we have all seen the effects of HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996). When you go to the pharmacy, you have to go to the super-secret, double reinforced privacy cubicle to ask a question. At the doctor's office you have to sign the form a gazillion times saying that you understand your rights. At what point, however, does all of this start to effect the way that health worker's think.

Rewind to almost a year ago when I broke my foot. I went to the podiatrist, was treated, had physical therapy and, in April, was released on my own recognisance. "Call me if you have any problems with your foot," she says. Okay. All good.

Yesterday, while napping at home, my wife was rudely awoken by the sound of the telephone. It was one of the pesky, but helpful, reminder calls from a doctor's office.

This call is to remind [JON MEYER] that he as an appointment with [DR. BROWN] at 11:00am tomorrow, December 31st.

There is apparently more to the call, but my wife is still half asleep. She calls me, gets mad at me because a phone call for me woke her up, and tells me about the call. Unfortunately, I do not see a Dr. Brown AND there is no shortage of them in the Tri-State area. Eventually, my wife settles down and calls back to give me the caller ID number. It is the office of my podiatrist who is NOT Dr. Brown. There is, however, a Dr. B[something] kind of sounds like Brown.

So, I called the office and this is how it played out:

Dr's Office: Good afternoon, Foot Care Center of Cincinnati.

Me: Hi, my name is Jon Meyer and I am a patient of Dr. [Podiatrist's Name]. I recieved a confirmation call for an appointment with a Dr. B[something], but I am not a patient of his. I last saw a doctor from your office in April and had no reason to schedule a follow up.

Dr's Office: Date of birth.

Me: My date of birth is 5/**/**

Dr's Office: You have an appointment with Dr. B[something] at 11:00am tomorrow.

Me: I apologize for any confusion, but I did not schedule an appointment tomorrow with that doctor, or any doctor for that matter.

Dr's Office: Are you Jon Meyer?

Me: Yes, I am.

Dr's Office: And you didn't make an appointment for tomorrow.

Me: No, I did not.

Dr's Office: Well, did you see a doctor in April about your foot?

Me: Yes, I did.

Dr's Office: Well, this is your follow-up.

Me: Well, I didn't schedule a follow-up. Was it scheduled that same day in April?

Dr's Office: No sir, it was scheduled for tomorrow.

Me: Sorry. I meant was the appointment made on that same day.

Dr's Office: I am showing that it was made on December 22nd.

Me: Than I definately know that it wasn't me. I didn't call to make an appointment. Someone else with a similar name must have.

Dr's Office: Would you like to cancel your appointment?

Me: Yes, but...

Dr's Office: We have a $25 fee if you cancel your appointment less than 24 hours before the scheduled time.

Me: I understand, but I didn't make the appointment.

Dr's Office: Well, who did make the appointment?

Me: I don't know. Maybe someone named John Mayer or Jan Meijer? Could someone like that have made an appointment?

Dr's Office: Sir, I am not allowed to discuss other patients with you. It is none of your business.

Me: Wow. Okay. Maybe you should decide at the office if you want to keep it open for the person that really made the appointment or if you want to cancel it. Either way, I am not going to have to pay a cancellation penalty because it is not my appointment.

Dr's Office: I will ask if I can waive the penalty.

Me: What? Okay, thanks. Good luck.

[END CALL]

Seriously...this lady was wacko. I'm noticing that little by little that the professionalism and courtesy of most Healthcare professionals, specifically those that assist the providers themselves, is going away. The people that schedule appointments are very discourteous and most other non-nurse or non-doctor personnel just seem...jaded. Maybe someone can explain it to me, but I think that it is inexcusable. When you are in that position, at LEAST half of your job is Customer Service. Deal.

WAL-MART

Amy, Sam and I went to Wal-mart last night to return some gifts. They were likely bought somewhere else, but seriously...you know that Wal-mart sells the stuff. Everything that we had to return WAS sold there, so we were fine. What I did like is how they handle the return preparation now.

When you walk in the door, there is a person there that scans the items, prints off a sticker with a barcode and price, and points you to the line. So, when you get to the register to return the items, they just scan the sticker and you're on your way. Way convenient and no guess work. The refund comes in the form of a gift card (Happy Birthday to my special someone), but that is fine since, as I said, they stuff probably came from another store.