17 MAR 09: Of Mouse and Men

What's going on here? First there was fighting at a teenage pajama party. Now comes word of a brawl at Chuck E. Cheese's. Our local sports bars need to set up full-time boxing/wrestling rings quickly -- for the customers.

It certainly was the strangest story from the Monday news - a fight at Chuck E. Cheese's in Cross Country Plaza. Someone claimed 13 police cars wound up at the restaurant Saturday night. Aren't you thankful that mixed martial arts event at the Civic Center was tame and civilized?

To hear Kimberly Benton tell it, the trouble at Chuck E. Cheese's began when part of her family's order of chicken wings was taken to the wrong table. So this fight not only was ugly, it probably was a little greasy....

Kimberly Benton claims her 15-year-old sister went to the Chuck E. Cheese's manager to complain. Is that all he/she is called -- a manager? Not the Big Cheese or something?!

But anyway: Kimberly Benton says her sister also went to the manager because an employee displayed a bad attitude. The employee then reportedly challenged the complaining teenager to a fight. Somehow I don't think that's in the guidebooks on "good customer service."

At this point, Kimberly Benton claims the employee who stamps hands at Chuck E. Cheese's intervened. This increased the steaks stakes immediately, as a lethal weapon was now involved.

The end result was a brawl inside Chuck E. Cheese's which left five people under arrest - and leaves me wondering if Great Southern Wood is proud of itself. The group could have imitated that TV commercial bar fight in Rotwood. But then again, the animated mouse couldn't fire a shotgun to stop it.

When this news item came up in my workplace Monday, a lengthy debate began -- not about the fight, but how you spell the name of the restaurant. The proper spelling is in fact "Chuck E. Cheese's." Over the years, I've heard people shorten it to "Chuck E. Cheese" - which may be a little sexist, since people don't do that with Wendy's.

Some co-workers contended you don't go to Chuck E. Cheese's for quality service in the first place. As we've all come to realize in recent weeks, that sort of thing is reserved for the "double booth" at Captain D's.

Other people contended the food at Chuck E. Cheese's also is poor quality - but I think that's a bit unfair. The one time I ate there was at a co-worker's farewell dinner, and the pizza seemed fine to me. It ranked somewhere between Papa John's and Piggly Wiggly's frozen brands, but it was OK.

Yet it was stunning to do a Google search for Chuck E. Cheese's Monday night, and find several news items from other cities about brawling at the restaurant chain. In Wisconsin, armed guards even were added to the staff. Stop trying to "Whack-a-Mole" onto that girl's face, or I'll shoot....

Executives at Chuck E. Cheese's say the brawling reports usually involve parents, instead of children. Some think it's because the restaurants serve alcohol to grownups. Yet you don't hear about this sort of behavior at bowling centers - where sometimes teams actually compete for free beer.

But you'll be pleased to learn nice things also can happen at Chuck E. Cheese's. Dee Armstrong once told me she met a man there, whom she eventually married. I assume she was a TV journalist at the time, while her future husband may have been at Chuck E. Cheese's to live a token existence.

-> Our other blog starts with poker, and heads in surprising directions from there. People around the world visit "On the Flop!" <--

E-MAIL UPDATE: Rainy days and Mondays made one reader wonder....

A mid-day drive thru the area of Victory drive and I 185 interchanged showed heavy signs of sections of dirt slipping' off the sides of the NEW ramps being built.

the ramp on the far left side heading north looks real bad.

Also - when you make that loop from Victory to go north on I 185 - that bank on the left - looking up - looks like it wants to slide on down to the old ramp.

Is the angle too steep to hold the dirt and grass up there?

Now now - don't look on that mud as a potential traffic hazard. Look at it as training for a race at East Alabama Motor Speedway.

Crews have been working on the Victory Drive interchange along Interstate 185 for a long time. And I heard somewhere recently that the city wants to use federal stimulus money for another upgrade. If the city listens to the Republicans and turns that money down, we could have a great training course for Army convoys.

It turns out Columbus has received more than five inches of rain since Friday night. If this wet weather keeps up, a lot of coin laundries are going to have rusting washers.

Let's see what else slid into the news spotlight Monday....

+ WRBL reported former Phenix City Utilities Director Greg Glass has filed suit against the city. He first threatened to do this nine months ago [10 Jun 08] -- but he may have been waiting for the stock market to bottom out, to maximize his investment in an attorney.

+ The Muscogee County School Board announced it will hold a series of public forums, to get ideas for school sales tax projects. WRBL noted one idea on the list is an upgrade of Kinnett Stadium - and I'm sure the Shaw High School boosters will appreciate those luxury skyboxes.

(This SPLOST list already puzzles me - because it proposes to build two new grade schools, while replacing Carver High with a new building. Is that going to be enough for all the base realignment families moving to Columbus? Is the school district planning to lease a mobile home park, and call it a "school of portables?")

+ The Columbus Lions announced they're near an agreement for former Shaw player Troy Bergeron to join the team. Bergeron has played in Atlanta for several years, with the Georgia Force of Arena Football. I'm sorry, but it simply doesn't sound right to refer to him as a "major league" indoor football player.

+ Auburn University began selling tickets for Wednesday's first-round National Invitational Tournament game. I fear some fans are going to be disappointed - because they're hearing the Tigers will play "U-T-Martin," and they think it's the former quarterback at Tennessee.

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