December 13, 2016

"'We’re gonna have to ask you to leave.' I said, 'For what reason?' He said, 'You look too much like Santa Claus.'"

"And I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ he recalled. 'I do not approach kids. The parents come to me.'"

29 comments:

readering said...

Surprised if this is a first for him.

MayBee said...

Why don't more men go into child care as a career?

MayBee said...

Although I have to say, I can see why six flags would ask him to stop passing out candy.

great Unknown said...

One more entry into the voluminous file: "Shakespeare was right. Lawyers first."

bagoh20 said...

The public culture where it interacts with business or government has become almost anti-humanity, completely humorless and cold. One simple reason: liability feeding lawyers, and the other lawyers who try to protect you from them. We have lost much of our community soul for the purpose of enriching ambulance chasers. I hate what they have done to business, government, and every other organized interaction we have with each other. Every deep pocket needs a lock and guard dog.

LYNNDH said...

Guess I will need to trim my beard and not wear a Red Shirt. NOT!!

Fred Drinkwater said...

About 18 years ago I was a volunteer tutor at my daughter's elementary school. I sat in the classroom while regular class was in session, and one at a time the kids and I reviewed their reading level vs. the district's standard book set. (They were 7-8 year old kids)
The next year I was contacted to see if I wanted to continue. I was then told I'd have to have a background / police check done, which put me off a bit. Eventually I told them I'd agree, provided they sent me a copy of the district's personal data security and retention policy (i.e. who can access the files, and how long do they keep them?)
Never heard back from them.
Later I found that the check was only required for volunteers who were going to be alone with kids, which I was never going to be. (Never, never, never. I am not stupid.)
Most men I have mentioned this to have a similar story, and a similar paranoia.
Mr. Henderson must have led a charmed life (assuming he's a decent person and has no other motivations. see? (Even I'm doing it.))

Left Bank of the Charles said...

I think he looked too much like he worked there.

Professional lady said...

Yes, people would reasonably assume he was an employee and if something happened they would try to hold the park liable (probably with a pretty good chance of success).

tim maguire said...

I was with him until he admitted he was passing out candy. It could have been handled better, but I can understand Six Flags having a problem with what he was doing.

Curious George said...

I'm just waiting for Laslo.

ngtrains said...

He was with his wife and she used a walker.

how could he look like an employee?

heyboom said...

@Tim Maguire

He handed out the candy in front of the parents. If they had a problem with that I'm sure they would have told him.

Good grief, what in the hell has happened to people in America?

Michael K said...

I'm sympathetic but understand Six Flags point.

Unknown said...

It is entirely possible that Six Flags was in fact concerned for the kids' safety, and not just worried about lawyers. Any adult male who would do that, even in the certain knowledge that he poses no harm to a child, is forgetting that he is making it slightly more likely a child he interacted with would become more vulnerable to someone who did pose danger.

I am more than willing to walk cross a street against a red light when I am alone, but don't do it if there are young children standing by me. Just because.

Known Unknown said...

that he is making it slightly more likely a child he interacted with would become more vulnerable to someone who did pose danger.

Fuck off, slaver.

Quaestor said...

Every convocation of outlaw bikers resembles a convention of Kris Kringle look-alikes.

"Sorry, we're gonna have to ask you to leave", I said.
"For what reason?" he said.
"You look to much like Daniel Uneputty."

Lewis Wetzel said...

"Blogger bagoh20 said...
The public culture where it interacts with business or government has become almost anti-humanity, completely humorless and cold."
The liberal dream is that all human interaction is mediated by the state. How long will it be before a child is removed from a home because the child's parents are teaching it that homosexuality (or hetero sex outside of marriage) is a sin?

Darrell said...

When people sue, they are going to sue Six Flags, not him. Why is he setting up "shop" in someone else's business?

JAORE said...

"Why don't more men go into child care as a career"

Or elementary education.

I was, often, an assistant coach for our last son's sports teams. Fortunately for the kids the coach was knowledgeable and only needed a cat herder for most activities.

But to do this, which always took place in public with numerous parents, even at practice, I needed a background check and references.

Yet all it would have taken is one kid, or one kid's parent, making an allegation and that would have ended, beside the reputation hit.

Time with John made it worthwhile.

Having said that, I understand the 6 Flags position, though I wish Santa well.

gadfly said...

@great Unknown said...
One more entry into the voluminous file: "Shakespeare was right. Lawyers first."

We have all been played . . . Shakespeare never wrote a single word!

Owen said...

Six Flags has a problem. They base their business on kids but their fear, that kids will be injured, forces them to interfere in normal and desirable social interactions. Hey, it's their house, so it's their rules; but the effect is borderline absurd and will cost them badly. Apparently the only safe course of conduct is to keep well away from children (up to what age?) unless you can produce proof that they are your own, or have been entrusted to you by their legal guardian. Do not strike up a conversation with parents of children. Do not allow children to approach you. If they persist, flee. Or ask a uniformed employee to "make the children go away."

tim maguire said...

@heyboom, see Darrell at 6:41. The fact that he did it in front of the parents means a great deal less than you might imagine.

Humperdink said...

Our church does background checks on our Sunday school teachers and nursery workers. Times have changed, as well as our culture.

Humperdink said...

Speaking of the times they are a changing, we now lock the church doors when the service starts. (It should be noted the door is staffed.)

I should add our church borders a tough part of town. Heck, about one third of our congregation comes from that area. That is our outreach.

The Vault Dweller said...

Thanks litigious left for making everything a possible lawsuit. I pray for coronary infarctions en masse.

JWH said...

The only thing worse than a politician or lawyer is a child molester.

mikee said...

It was in 1988 that I first heard a grown man state that he tried very hard never, ever to be alone with minors. He was from California.

I should have known the crazy would not be kept there, but would spread.

Jeff with one 'f' said...

He has stated that he dresses like Santa everywhere here goes, Walmart, etc and had done so since was in his thirties. He is a grown man who intentionally seeks the attention of children wherever he goes. You don't have to be a lawyer to see something wrong with that.

Texas is a warm place where strangers interact in friendly ways that seem alien to people from the urban East Coast. I can tell you if he tried his kindly Santa act in Philadelphia he would have his beard handed to him pretty quick.