McDonald’s New “Play Place” for Children. Two screens/two chairs

[u/Finkenn]

📍Franklin, TN, USA

[u/crowmami]

stop this is so depressing

[u/wuhkay → u/crowmami]

Less lawsuits. More profit.

[u/Laxziy → u/wuhkay]

Also less of a bitch to clean. I can only imagine the horror of poop in the ball pit

[u/OrthodoxFiles229 → u/Laxziy]

Worked at a McDonalds with a playspace circa '99. Poop. Puke. Pee. Soda spills. Milk spills that ferment in the greenhouse of the play area.

I learned a lot about life and humanity as a teenager working that place.

[u/liquor_ibrlyknoher → u/OrthodoxFiles229]

I learned a lot about life

Specifically the billions of microbial life forms found in abundance where crawling children and teenage-based sanitation meet

[u/Persian_Frank_Zappa → u/liquor_ibrlyknoher]

I was gonna say “specifically, the importance of contraception”.

[u/mikefrombarto → u/liquor_ibrlyknoher]

I first read that last part as ”teenage-based sanitation meat” and started feeling a new level of discomfort.

[u/SunnySamantha → u/liquor_ibrlyknoher]

Can attest to teenage cleanliness. Worked for a cleaning company that his two employees (also another 19 year old) dubbed Under the Carpet Cleaning Company.

[u/chuckle_puss → u/liquor_ibrlyknoher]

This was beautifully written lol.

[u/Adorable-Gate-2192 → u/OrthodoxFiles229]

Never once experienced that as a child going to McDonald’s religiously in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. I thank you for your service to allow me to have an incredible childhood in the Play Places.

[u/KingDariusTheFirst → u/OrthodoxFiles229]

Learned a lot about how parents take thier kids out into the world not giving an F about how untrained their kids are. Accidents happen, but unseen shits and discarded diapers lie wholly with the parents.

[u/fartinmyhat → u/OrthodoxFiles229]

I imagine you've very strong now.

[u/slasher_lash → u/Laxziy]

brave attraction modern sugar absorbed axiomatic different unpack wide caption

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/Additional-Sky-7436 → u/slasher_lash]

for good reason.

[u/pussy_embargo → u/Additional-Sky-7436]

why have a ballroom with no balls??

[u/Additional-Sky-7436 → u/pussy_embargo]

For the first time in forEVER....

[u/dbmajor7 → u/pussy_embargo]

Good question PUSSY_EMBARGO!

[u/Big-Recognition7362 → u/pussy_embargo]

“Finally they’re opening up the gates!”

[u/PhoenixApok → u/Additional-Sky-7436]

It's seems like one of those things that, while a fun idea, can't work without majorly fucking someone.

Either the low wage employees have to do cleaning WAY above their pay grade, the restaurant has to pay an insane amount for cleaning it professionally, or parents have to actually clean up their own kids messes (which they are never gonna do)

There isn't a way to make it safe, economic, and fun without someone being exploited.

[u/NatexTheGreat → u/Laxziy]

Yeah, atleast it helps the workers

[u/shiny_glitter_demon → u/NatexTheGreat]

The ones who get fired because everything is automated?

[u/bdone2012 → u/shiny_glitter_demon]

Do you think they hired people just to clean up the poop in the ball pit?

Im kidding. But really I assume they probably kept one person late after closing for an hour or two to clean it up. So they do lose some potential over time there but it’s not an entire job. Or at least I wouldn’t think so

And if someone pooped in the ball pit during working outs I assume they’d pull someone off the line to clean it

[u/LikelyLioar → u/bdone2012]

We didn't have ball pits in the ones at McDees. The kids had to shit in the gerbil tubes. (Source: I had to clean the gerbil tubes in 1996.)

[u/AdvancedBlacksmith66 → u/bdone2012]

My guess is they’d close the play area down entirely and call in a professional cleaning company.

Cleaning shit out of a ball pit is frankly above everyone’s paygrade. Ain’t nobody at McDonald’s getting paid enough to do that.

[u/gummytoejam → u/AdvancedBlacksmith66]

When I worked fast food, had a shift manager asked me to clean out the trash cans. A weeks worth of spillage in the bottom of those cans incubating god knows what in the hot production area caked on and would not come out. Did they have tools to clean it? No. Shift manager told me to use my hands. I asked for protective gear. She handed me a couple of those thin plastic food service gloves. I refused. She got someone else dumb enough to do it.

I'm inclined to believe they would get someone inhouse to clean it.

[u/AdvancedBlacksmith66 → u/gummytoejam]

Yeah I’m probably just being too optimistic

[u/Mondayslasagna → u/AdvancedBlacksmith66]

I worked in the service industry for years, and the number of times I was asked to clean diarrhea out of the urinals, “quietly” pick roaches or patio rats up with my bare hands, clean blood off mirrors, etc. was definitely not zero.

I unfortunately was too scared to get fired to say no to most of them until I got older and more experienced.

P.S. please stop letting your children/coked out boyfriend shit in the urinals.

[u/Familiar-Feedback-57 → u/bdone2012]

Yes. Pulled off the line. Mine was too much soda in a tunnel, not the ball pit. Our store manager was stand-up, I remember it was deep cleaned/closed for a 48 hour window once a year.

In a 24 hour store, playplace was 7-7 I think, lobby dinning was 5-10, put drive through was always open

[u/spec-tickles → u/bdone2012]

When I was younger the pit had a “ball washer” they were slowly sucked down a drain at the bottom and sent through some robotic cleaning machine and sent back into the pit. They had built it out of clear plastic so you could watch the machines through a window 

[u/Amaranthine7 → u/Laxziy]

I avoided those things when I was a kid. I knew they were nasty.

[u/izzohead → u/Amaranthine7]

Gotta build that immune system up somehow

[u/Suck_My_Thick → u/wuhkay]

In the 2000s there was a huge backlash against McDonalds advertising toward children so they got rid of all the playgrounds and mascots. I'm surprised this even this exists.

[u/lava172 → u/Suck_My_Thick]

It's wild how we focused so much on the advertising, I feel like kids now eat just as much Mcdonalds as we did in the 2000's but it's just more expensive and less whimsical

[u/PriscillaPalava → u/lava172]

Congratulations, we played ourselves. 

[u/M1DN1GHTDAY → u/PriscillaPalava]

Maybe more like congrats our parents played us

[u/[deleted] → u/lava172]

It wasn't just the advertising, there were numerous safety and sanitation concerns.

A local McDonald's where I grew up had to take down their outdoor play area because a rattlesnake laid eggs in the ball pit and kid got bit.

They survived. Luckily it was only a juvenile and its venom wasn't as potent yet. I remember it being all over the news.

[u/Desk_Drawerr → u/lava172]

and less places for kids to burn off the calories

[u/ABHOR_pod → u/lava172]

McDonalds is an American cultural institution, and I mean that entirely unironically.

That is not a positive thing, but it is a thing.

[u/PikaBooSquirrel → u/crowmami]

Especially if you are old enough to remember playing in the jungle gyms they used to have.

[u/Hiraeth3189 → u/PikaBooSquirrel]

whenever I pass by the McDonald's I played in as a kid I feel weird

[u/PsyKeablr → u/Hiraeth3189]

That’s nostalgia kicking in…

[u/Ganjarat → u/Hiraeth3189]

The one I used to play in was "remodeled" and now has that weird prison look from the outside.

[u/WhoSc3w3dDaP00ch → u/Hiraeth3189]

It’s a Korean bbq restaurant now, so I still get my cravings for greasy meat satisfied!

[u/person144 → u/PikaBooSquirrel]

Last year I was having a tough time and had two young boys with lots of energy. Our McDonald’s still has a playplace with tubes and everything. For the cost of two happy meals and sometimes some ice cream, I got to sit and read my book for at least an hour. It was the biggest help.

[u/manshamer → u/person144]

I would definitely use my local one more if it wasn't just a norovirus incubator. I swear people go out of their way to take their sick kids there

[u/notchandelier → u/person144]

yep, this is how i burnt my twins energy last year when they were small enough to still get a kick out of play places, except we went to chick fil a bc our mcdonalds doesn't have a play place anymore. for $10-$12 i got at least 90 mins of alone time, they made friends and had a meal that i didn't have to cook lol.

[u/Ieatclowns → u/PikaBooSquirrel]

Our local McDonalds still has one, but we're in Australia.

[u/bubblesculptor → u/Ieatclowns]

Are there giant spiders hiding within?

[u/Ieatclowns → u/bubblesculptor]

Always. They're the designated play coordinators.

[u/regeust → u/PikaBooSquirrel]

Am I going crazy? My local mcdonalds still has a jungle gym play space.

[u/azhder → u/crowmami]

the dialog between the two children there:

• wanna depress together?
• yeah

[u/postmodest → u/azhder]

"Mommy says the pills are working..." [mashes head against screen, repeatedly]

[u/SoupeurHero → u/crowmami]

From a business standpoint, less man hours and maintenance, less liability with kids getting hurt, and most importantly EAT THE FOOD AND GTFO. The future of fast food is drive through only because covid showed them how much more profitable it is. People would post up and have birthday parties and shit at mcdonalds and its not like a bar where people keep ordering drinks.

[u/SpoppyIII → u/SoupeurHero]

I worked at a McDonalds that literally mounted a plaque in one of its booths. It's engraved and everything. It's to commemorate this gaggle of elderlies who would all show up at 6:00 am when the doors opened every single day, and hang out together in that booth ordering food all morning long until lunch. Then they'd all scram.

It says, "This booth is dedicated to the Manasquan Breakfast Club."

So I have seen my share of people who do indeed linger all day at McDonalds while also continuously ordering food.

[u/SoupeurHero → u/SpoppyIII]

I worked at a mcdonalds and they did that to have free coffee all morning. I dont recall them having more than one breakfast but probably some lunch before they left. Definitely would burn through our coffee that we needed for drive through even if we prepared for it, you could only get so far ahead.

[u/MisterDonkey → u/SpoppyIII]

I eat McDonald's every day, and every day there are the same faces in there. Some groups. Some loners.

Something brings us all there consistently and I can say assuredly that it's not the gourmet menu. 

We might as well form a club.

[u/no_notthistime → u/MisterDonkey]

That...is a really bold lifestyle choice

[u/SoupeurHero → u/[deleted]]

You still had to put pants on and get out of your car for that. This is so much lazier. And apparently drive throughs have figured out that if youre driving by that youre less likely to stop if theres even a small line so they split them up now to appear shorter but they get orders out at the same pace, the only reason is to get you to impulsively pull in and que up.

[u/LoquaciousMendacious → u/crowmami]

The play prison is for all.

[u/Billymac2202]

Don’t go outside. Stare at the screen, child.

[u/graphpapyrus → u/Billymac2202]

"The Boogeyman cometh"

Reverend Maynard

Edit: or maybe Michael Reaves, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis

[u/DSPbuckle → u/graphpapyrus]

r/suddenAPerfectCircle

[u/Take_the_ringer → u/DSPbuckle]

r/subsifellfor

[u/the_calibre_cat → u/Billymac2202]

there are no tunnels, there is only screen

[u/SmileyMcSax → u/Billymac2202]

I worked in a very customer service/public facing job at an art museum last year and saw more than a couple kids have absolute melt downs when their parents took away the screens as they were going through the galleries. Parents just wanted the kids to look at these incredible works of human history.

I'm a millennial myself, but man have my generation failed hard at being parents sometimes.

[u/nanapancakethusiast → u/Billymac2202]

Consume your slop in your chair. Become lazy and apathetic.

[u/Dwight- → u/nanapancakethusiast]

We’re at the beginning of Wall-E.

[u/Warshrimp79]

This is actually fucking sad

[u/LilyBriscoeBot → u/Warshrimp79]

Yeah. It's probably games interspersed with ads.

[u/misc645 → u/LilyBriscoeBot]

Those are Nunoerin’s Ucreate boards. I work in an autism clinic for young children and we have them. They can’t have ads on them, thankfully. However, the selection of games on them is small and, most likely, boring to a broader audience of children.

[u/Gortex_Possum → u/misc645]

"You're telling me we installed a future customer enrichment corner and we didn't even think to advertise in it!?"

[u/RocketteLawnchair → u/Gortex_Possum]

"Why aren't these windows covered with ads?"

[u/ShadeofIcarus → u/misc645]

I choose to be positive and assume that this McDonalds franchise has a grandkid that is autistic and wanted to be inclusive to families that might need a break.

It's probably not the case. Let's be real. But I need to feel good tonight so it is for me.

[u/Nova225 → u/LilyBriscoeBot]

Nah, they don't have ads (not yet at least). The McDs by me have 2 of these next to the actual play place. They're fairly cheap and crappy games for the most part, but that's all they are.

[u/RetroGamer87 → u/Nova225]

That's what the kids are growing up with. All of my daughters friends play zero challenge games on their iPads.

[u/chmilz → u/LilyBriscoeBot]

"It's not ads, it's education"

educates children on why McDonald's is the best

[u/fsactual]

black mirror vibes

[u/deavonis199 → u/fsactual]

For real

[u/lvlisterGutsy → u/deavonis199]

Too real. You can touch it!

[u/ShaiHulud1111 → u/lvlisterGutsy]

Everything is black mirror these days. It nuts. Speed run to dystopia if I ever saw one.

I haven’t, but the movies are plenty and probably close.

[u/pfamsd00 → u/fsactual]

Please try to enjoy each screen equally

[u/pancakebatter01 → u/fsactual]

The throw up is so much easier to clean up when there isn’t any to clean up in the first place!!

-McDonald’s

[u/slowpokefastpoke → u/fsactual]

Severance Jr.

[u/azhder]

McLumons

Teach them macrodata refining at a young age

[u/ChesterPlemany → u/azhder]

Ba da ba ba baaaa I’m severin’ it!

[u/Incognonimous → u/ChesterPlemany]

Subliminal message to turn them into life long customers... And kill their parents

[u/mr_remy → u/Incognonimous]

The children, they yearn for the mines! Who are we to stop them?!

[u/Attainted → u/Incognonimous]

Sleeper McAgents

[u/sharltocopes → u/azhder]

Foetid McMoppits

[u/db1037 → u/sharltocopes]

Yeah I’ll take a McMoppit, a medium gråkappan and a large ice-Cold Harbor.

[u/sharltocopes → u/db1037]

Your Outie can hork down fifty McNuggets in one sitting.

[u/ThanksForTheRain → u/sharltocopes]

Omg this made me laugh so hard it hurt me

[u/down1nit → u/ThanksForTheRain]

Please refrain from any further emotional outbursts. That's ten points.

[u/Known_Wrongdoer2 → u/azhder]

The happy meal toys are coveted as fuck!

[u/ReasonableGoose69 → u/Known_Wrongdoer2]

im waiting for the finger trap

[u/giga → u/azhder]

Please enjoy each McNugget equally.

[u/MaidenlessRube → u/giga]

I really try but not matter what I do the last Nugget from the second 20 pack always tastes like shame.

[u/papercloak → u/azhder]

"our play is mysterious and important"

[u/jason15300 → u/azhder]

Seth on his way to revoke my happy meal privileges

[u/azhder → u/jason15300]

Happy meals are for team players

[u/asfrels → u/jason15300]

The happy meal experience has been officially cancelled

[u/ross_the_dog → u/jason15300]

Mr McMilchik you mean?

[u/DoingCharleyWork → u/ross_the_dog]

Mr milkshake*

[u/Doppiedoodle → u/azhder]

This is the perfect take on this….

[u/Antitech73 → u/azhder]

Your outie enjoys Hot Mustard sauce

[u/TheFlyingBogey → u/azhder]

Don't you mean "McRodata" refining 👉😀👉

[u/Limietaru → u/azhder]

“I haven’t done that since I was 8”

[u/programming_flaw → u/azhder]

Connor was interested in macrodata refinement from a very young age.

[u/HailToTheThief225 → u/azhder]

Look at you, all dewy-mouthed children

[u/CILC → u/azhder]

don’t trust Ronald he’s a fuck

[u/nothing_but_static]

This is worse than nothing

[u/Carb0nFire → u/nothing_but_static]

Legitimately is. Sometimes being bored is ok.

[u/FiveFruitADay → u/Carb0nFire]

I feel like we need to normalise boredom for kids rather than just sticking screens in their face. Boredom is normal!! You don't always have to be occupied with something! I'd rather see kids being a bit feral than glued to a screen and not socialising

[u/pichow-pichow → u/FiveFruitADay]

haven't you heard? "apathy's a tragedy and boredom is a crime!" (welcome to the internet _ bo burnham)

[u/ambidextr_us → u/Carb0nFire]

Or being outside playing with rocks and sticks outside the front door would beat this dystopian garbage. We had Lincoln Logs when I was a kid so we all played outside building little forts and stuff, infinitely superior to a touchscreen.

[u/spaceballstheprofile → u/ambidextr_us]

Watching some ants in the gutter or the seagulls eating fries, or staring at a smooshed nugget sauce on the pavement ….. all would beat this dystopian garbage.

[u/sandwichesandblow → u/nothing_but_static]

Lol you’re right

[u/Worldly-Corgi-1624]

Lawyer resistant.

[u/quincy1151 → u/Worldly-Corgi-1624]

And that’s just it. So many lawsuits filed across North America for play place injuries. They’ve been mostly wiped clean in Canadian provinces.

[u/quartzguy → u/quincy1151]

We're down to one in our little metro area. I doubt it will be refreshed or renovated again. Once it's end of life, it'll be gone.

[u/Vegalink → u/Worldly-Corgi-1624]

I genuinely think this is why this type of thing is popping up. Businesses have to think of the set up least likely to provoke a lawsuit.

[u/Worldly-Corgi-1624 → u/Vegalink]

The chairs could still topple back and cause an injury, in addition to the corners on the display. This is the most anodyne play space I’ve ever seen, and I’m in education.

[u/princeofparmesia]

Omg this is terrifying

[u/TeaEarlGreyHotti → u/princeofparmesia]

“Please come to my 7th birthday party at McDonald’s!….

Please.. come I can only invite one person and hope another kid isn’t already there

[u/ModelGunner]

r/ABoringDystopia

[u/DaringDomino3s → u/ModelGunner]

Thought that’s where I was at first

[u/TheGhostofWoodyAllen → u/DaringDomino3s]

Same.

[u/ThingCalledLight]

God, this is sad.

[u/I_spy78365]

Why did they make all the fast food places so depressing? 😭😭😭 They weren't like that back in the day. They were vibrant and whimsical. As much as a fast food restaurant could be.

[u/Additional-One-7135 → u/I_spy78365]

They turned the buildings into sterile gray cubes because they sell easier when the McDonalds closes. They got rid of Ronald because of the trend of people dressing up as murder clowns. They got rid of the play places because they were a magnet for hygiene violations and injury lawsuits.

[u/Kick-ass-wizard → u/Additional-One-7135]

This was also in large part because marketing your unhealthy slop to children has been regulated against. Some good and bad went into the color drain

[u/BrandoNelly → u/I_spy78365]

Dumb ass parents suing the hell out of establishments when their kids fell out of the play pen. Dumb ass parents suing fast food restaurants for looking like a place for children. It’s parents that have done this.

[u/TemporaryIllusions]

This legitimately hurt to see.

[u/aries__69]

This is next level of depressing

[u/gfox446]

I absolutely HATE this

Generation of the iPad children

We will see the generation with the lowest attention span of all time

[u/an_actual_T_rex → u/gfox446]

I hate how everyone treats them like it’s their fault that we’re fucking failing them.

[u/NazzerDawk → u/an_actual_T_rex]

My kids are restricted to one hour of screen time a day. Fuck them growing up as addicted as I am.

[u/bwwatr → u/NazzerDawk]

I've been all over the "screen time" thing for years, measuring it, capping it, hardcore parental controls, easing back from it and expecting them to self-measure to build self regulation, negotiating quantities against outdoor hours, etc. but if anything this imposed scarcity has made it even more prized, more obsessed over. Some days all I hear about during the screen-free hours, is screen time. My colleague has kids who get basically zero screen time, he doesn't face these issues, but nor do his kids have a chance to get savvy to the challenges awaiting them, til they're adults and set loose on the digital world. Mine are pre- discovery of social media and doom scrolling, rn they're taking in mostly curated content like Switch games and stuff. The worst lies ahead, as they get older and gain more access and privacy. Am I failing them, maybe, but it's a hell of an assignment with no obvious winning move.

[u/its_all_one_electron → u/bwwatr]

I'm in the same boat. It's so fucking tough. 

1, I'm separated and co parent alone and after work I am fucking dead. I can barely cook dinner. The TV gives me some time to just decompress.

2, the screen is... Shitty in theory but my kid doesn't just sit glued to it. Right now he's really into Pokemon and can't sit still, he's jumping on the couch and pretending he's throwing or jumping out of pokeballs and doing battles with himself. 

Plus he then is excited to go to school to talk to his friends about Pokemon. 

3, he has a laptop but only with educational games. He's really into math now. 

4, he's at school all day with zero screens and a ton of adult and kid interaction.

5, when I do have energy, we go to the park or hiking or whatever, usually out of doors, and he still acts like a normal kid, jumping around and playing and getting interested in nature and liking to dig. 

Screens are a part of the world now and treating it like this forbidden fruit just makes it more desired. Sometimes he gets sick of it and chooses to do other activities. 

I hope this is him learning to self-regulate..

Anyway. Being a parent nowadays is really fucking tough. We need a village and don't have it. Screens take a degree of weight off our backs especially when single parenting. It sucks but I think not having a village sucks harder. 

[u/WriterV → u/bwwatr]

This is what happened to me. My parents restricted me to one hour of computer time per week.

The result? As soon as I was on my own in college, I splurged on "computer time". I did nothing but procrastinate playing video games, watching youtube, reading wikipedia. Meanwhile my peers had learned to control their own time. Took me a ton of work to wean myself off, but even today I still have to restrict myself. Thankfully I enjoy going outdoors, so it's not too hard.

There's better ways to do this. I don't know how, but it's certainly not just hard restrictions.

[u/AgentCirceLuna → u/bwwatr]

Rather than restricting the quantity, you should focus on quality instead - I use my iPad for reading, watching documentaries or lectures, and writing. If they choose to do those things, then it’s no different to using a book or learning except it’s easier because of the bright, colourful screen and the ability to play music simultaneously or interact with the text (annotations, saving quotes, looking up references). Why not make a rule that they can use it for longer if they can make a list of things they have learned in the day or learned a new skill? That way you’re both getting what you want. I honestly couldn’t have graduated college without using my iPad because books are irritating for me to read due to my sensitivity to the texture of the pages and how they pick up scents

[u/MississippiBulldawg → u/an_actual_T_rex]

I ain't got kids, I didn't do shit, don't rope me into this we

[u/stankdog → u/MississippiBulldawg]

Us as adults being incredibly dependent and engaged in our phones, apps, the ads these things show to us and the companies make money from that.

They can't do this to kids without first looking at us and understanding how addictive this all is. We don't push against it either, we're suckers for screens. We all play a part in where our country will be in 20 years.

[u/ValuedQuayle → u/gfox446]

Almost anything would be better than the iPad. Duplo blocks, puzzles, even just indoor equipment that parents were to wipe down/clean themselves. I can use a sani wipe. But I don't allow my son to play on screens (he is 3) apart from a little Sesame Street, so we'd leave.

[u/Western_Memory5982 → u/ValuedQuayle]

Thank you for keeping your kid away from screens at a crucial young age. Keep being an awesome parent!

[u/pasta-thief → u/gfox446]

Lowest attention span, nonexistent fine motor skills…and we’re already seeing both.

[u/Waste-Middle-2357 → u/pasta-thief]

Getting any one of these kids on a job site will be neigh on impossible, but assuming one makes it, getting them to throw you a hammer or measuring tape up at you on the roof from the ground will be equal parts hilarious and infuriating.

[u/Lindvaettr → u/Waste-Middle-2357]

"Boss I'm swiping the hammer but it won't go up to you"

[u/Bootiluvr → u/gfox446]

I don’t think the attention span will necessarily be the problem. Its the everything else: The screen addiction, the lack of proper socialization, lack of accountability from both the children and the parents, and the wild west of the internet having a big influence on development

[u/PikaBooSquirrel → u/gfox446]

I grew up as the generation just before technology was everywhere (younger gen Z) and even refused to get a phone until I was 15. I still had a large portion of my attention span and memory completely obliterated in the years since I've had it. Feeling the needs to check my phone between sets at the gym, or during lulls in a conversation, anytime I feel a bit of boredom or a bit antsy. Digital dementia is a VERY real thing and if older minds are prone to it, I can't imagine how much it's ruining young minds. I've recently stopped using my phone (only use it once or twice a day outside of texts/calls) and I already see such a huge improvement. Of course I can't completely avoid using it, but I'm hoping to get a dummy flip phone reminiscent of the early 2000s phones.

[u/sroomek]

What the McFuck

[u/BulbasaurArmy]

I’ve been doomscrolling the news all week and this post is still somehow the most depressing thing I’ve seen on Reddit lately.

[u/Lord_Kronos_ → u/BulbasaurArmy]

It's because this is a place that is supposed to be for children, and realizing that the present generation of children is having to grow up with this is incredibly depressing. For most people growing up just turns out to be shitty all-around, but they (at least in the past) could at least look back at their childhood with fond memories, and if this is the kind of stuff that kids are growing up with now then they won't even have that when they get older.

[u/salbert]

I think this image will go viral across social media over the next year. It's one of those pictures that clearly illustrates the darkness of the modern world.

[u/KeyboardWarrior1988 → u/salbert]

We once went to great lengths to accommodate children and give them everything and now they are just an afterthought.

[u/WetBandit06]

This is actually depressing as hell.

[u/ReddShope]

Why should it be like this? I grew up playing with people in McDonald's. I remember when I was little, my friends and I would play there on weekends. It has become two screens. Now the most indispensable thing for children is the electronic screen, so why don't they play at home. Can you eat McDonald's for free when you go there? I saw the code under another comment section. If you need to buy an electronic screen too, you can use this.

REDDITOFF60 - $60 Off $400+ | REDDITOFF65 - $65 Off $450+

REDDITOFF36 - $36 Off $240+ | REDDITOFF39 - $39 Off $280+

REDDITOFF75 - $75 Off $500+ | REDDITOFF60 - $60 Off $400+

REDDITOFF63 - $63 Off $420+ | REDDITOFF33 - $33 Off $220+

REDDITOFF37 - $37 Off $260+ | REDDITOFF53 - $53 Off $380+

[u/sg490]

So glad I got to grow up in the 90s man

[u/Dry-Use3 → u/sg490]

I’m so glad my small towns McDonalds had a two story indoor playplace. Thing was awesome as a kid.

[u/spyVSspy420-69 → u/sg490]

What’s funny is that every now and then someone will post a picture of the N64 kiosks that McDonalds used to have and 90s kids will talk about how awesome it was getting to play Nintendo at McDonalds.

[u/Far_Ear_5746 → u/spyVSspy420-69]

" Balance " is the key answer here. Also, what kind of a rich ass neighborhood has those? Lol Definitely not an inner city kid thing I've ever heard of.

[u/RasThavas1214]

More dystopian than liminal.

[u/YouStupidAssholeFuck → u/RasThavas1214]

Yeah this isn't liminal. Maybe if it was framed different but there's a window outside with a car sitting there.

[u/demidevildemon]

Oh my god… this is so sad…

[u/musememo]

“Children, you must move your body as little as possible. Stay still or The Ronald will find you.”

[u/polyblackcat]

Welcome to 2025's dystopia

[u/Electronic-Hope-1]

Man that’s so sad

[u/thest0n3dslut]

This is dystopian as fuck.

[u/SgtNeilDiamond]

Lmao this is a whole new level of tablet kid, this is mental

[u/hustlebustle3]

fun corner

[u/Hoovooloo42]

If you showed this to someone in the 80's they woulda thought we lost the cold war

[u/Triptaker8]

I would be surprised if this replaces the full sized play places, and it’s not just in restaurants without them. Someone correct me if I’m wrong 

[u/Mein_Name_ist_falsch → u/Triptaker8]

But why not place some actual things kids can play with in there? There would be space for a table with some paper and pencils and some toys. This is just nothing.

[u/mongiesama]

one of the grimmest things I've seen

[u/veslothiraptr]

Well now that's depressing.

[u/adamthwaite]

Profoundly sad.

[u/SweetPrism]

This...is the single saddest fucking thing I have seen in a long time. I get it. I get why they make changes like this; I get that it was expensive and difficult to maintain an indoor playground, but seeing the devolution of childhood play like this in a photo, just...

[u/Flying-Mollusk]

Well that’s not depressing.

[u/Zerostar39]

That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever seen

[u/shorthanded]

is this where they write their drivers tests or something? brutal

[u/Lockenhart]

dystopia

[u/kool_aide_man]

Dystopian

[u/lessadessa]

This is horrifying. Genuinely it's like they're encouraging the screen addiction that most kids have these days, wtf.

I have such blissfully ignorant memories of how amazing the jungle gym and ball pool were even they were totally gross, no one cared. God society sucks these days.

[u/steelsheet]

this is next level

[u/115_zombie_slayer]

Anyone remember when they had N64s in mcdonalds

[u/Dependent_Bill8632]

”Welcome. Welcome to City-17”

[u/rifting_real]

Someone needs to tell these guys what a play place is

[u/normaal_volk]

100% lawsuit proof 👌

[u/Driver2900]

If you pick the wrong chair, the hamburgler comes out and steals your child.

[u/teenagesadist]

Peak culture.

[u/tomjoad2020ad]

Lmao can’t wait for the nostalgia posts in 20 years about the Sadness Corner

[u/WetAssPlanty]

This is why our kids are addicted to screens and so horribly behaved.... give them a freaking toy and let them play together! They need hands on play and social interactions FFS!

[u/willosfloppydriveyt]

What corporate assholes thought this was a good idea?

[u/NervousInvestment536]

Plenty of empty floor space for existential dread

[u/limajesussaves]

If I turned the corner to this and saw anybody except the twins from The Shining I would be surprised ngl. That's fucked up

[u/ActivityZestyclose75]

This is the most severely dystopian shit that I've seen in a while, and I see a lot of dystopian shit every single day.

[u/[deleted]]

r/aboringdystopia