Kid Vegas!

Imagine walking through a pair of doors. Instantly you are surrounded by flashing lights, loud noises, and kids laughing and screaming having a great time. A large mouse mascot is walking around giving hugs and high fives to kids. Frankly, it's a little frightening thinking about a mouse that's the size of a line-backer interacting with kids. A group of ankle-biters and little muffins are singing "If you're happy and you know it" waiting to catch tickets that are thrown in the air at the end of the song.

My friends you have just entered into Kid Vegas a.k.a Chuck E Cheese's.

Pastor invited me to attend the preschool's "FUN and FUNDraiser" night at Kid Vegas with his family. You enter in and get a little bucket to put your tokens in. They are just like the old school Vegas style coin buckets. You see kids running, FULL SPEED, from game to game trying to collect as many tickets as possible.

These tickets are collected at a booth where kids can "buy" random crap and other unnecessary trinkets. Throughout my evening I was walking around just gazing at the multitude of over-tired children and their poor parents trying to direct them outside away from the sugar coated debauchery and cheese pizza.

I look at this and I can't help but think of the adult equivalent: Vegas. The strip where bright lights, loud noises, and free drinks lure the common man and woman into the casinos where they drop 30 bucks or more like it's nobody's business. Their winnings are usually spent right quick at the many shops/booths in the casino.

It makes me wonder what the children that grow up with the kid Vegas will do with the Vegas that I know and enjoy.

Let's hope they all grow out of the freaky mouse character. I don't know if the real Vegas can handle that.