Today was our big scavenger hunt / initiation event for incoming seventh graders. The event itself went swimmingly. The kids really seemed to enjoy it (one even said it was one of his favorite events ever) and the newcomers were accepted into the group with open arms by the youth group "veterans."
The teens were very well-behaved, and respectful of the mall, although we expected no less from them. Apparently, however, this particular mall is very teenager-prejudiced, because we'd only been there for an hour or so when the security guards found us and told us that scavenger hunts were against mall policy and demanded that we leave. Whaaaaat? Well, we immediately offered to end the scavenger hunt and just commence shopping, which is what we were planning on doing after the scavenger hunt ANYWAY (it's not like the mall wasn't going to get any business from us!!!) but he told us again that we had to leave immediately. Those were "his orders" (yeah right, as you shall soon see.) So we rounded up the kids and they sadly brought the scavenger hunt to a halt, as we prepared to leave the mall.
Dan went to talk to the mall office to see if anything could be done to allow us to stay. We were all pretty upset at this ridiculous "rule." If the kids had been rowdy and disruptive I would have understood, but as it was, we know they were not. Well, the mall office seemed flabbergasted that we had been told to leave, and only told us we had to quit the scavenger hunt, we were welcome to stay and shop. We told the kids the good news and prepared to stay and enjoy the mall. Several kids hugged Dan in appreciation for fixing it.
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, except for some of the girls who got fake piercings and scared Hilary into thinking they were real. They laughed and said their parents would kill them... Hilary cheerfully replied that she would kill them first.
At the end of the trip there was some minor frustration with miscommunication between kids and their parents as to whether they were to be picked up or dropped off. That was unfortunate and caused some strife, but hopefully we can move past that.
All in all, a successful day... hopefully the mall learns its lesson! One store owner even said he was going to complain to the mall... he LIKED the scavenger hunt!
Love,
Dan and Hilary
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That is so stupid (extreme emphasis on "stupid"). Is not a scavenger hunt basically the EXACT SAME THING as shopping? I applaud you Dan for sticking around and fighting back. I probably would've just said "screw it" and left. I deal with retarded rules all day, so my patience for fighting them is gone.
ReplyDeleteDan & Hilary,
ReplyDeleteOur prayers are with you, and hope that you are sleeping better. Sounds like you are learning alot on this internship--continue to do so. Like the scavenger hunt thing--you aren't in the big city of Lansing. A lot of smaller town malls have regulations about teens (e.g., how many can be in a store at one time, etc.). Learn from this: next time, before that kind of event, check with the mall (ro whatever place) first before doing it. It will save a lot energy later. Likewise with the frustration of kids being picked up--make sure the info is communicated to the parents, not just through the teens. As you can see in my comments, I'm functioning more in the prof mode. Take care.
KGF