The Earth-Toned Pill

Today I went to a local Gamestop store in Sanford on my lunch to spend my hard-earned giftcard that I got for doing online surveys. I was thinking about finally getting the Orange Box, because it kills me that nearly everyone I know owns it (including Catie's DAD), but I don't. So when I walked in the door, I made my way past wall upon wall of consoles titles, finally shuffling my way over to their pathetically-small stand of PC games, I was delighted to find one last copy of the Orange Box waiting there just for me.

I grabbed it and walked straight up to the counter to wait behind a grandmother that must have been no older than 60 and her two grandkids who were checking out. The oldest kid, no more than 12 years old, was trying to get granny to buy him Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, part of the infamous series of games that brought you such things as the hot coffee mod. To my total surprise, the first thing the clerk did after picking up the game to ring it up was to look at the kid directly and ask him 'so should I tell her about it or do you want to'. At that moment in my mind, it were as if thousands were madly cheering the entrance of a beloved gladiator into the Colosseum.

After seeing the blank expression on the kid's face, the clerk then went on to bluntly (but respectfully) explain why she might not want to buy this particular game for her grandson. To my irritation, the grandmother tried playing ignorant at first, happy to just let the child have what he wanted because she didn't quite understand. But I was amazed when the clerk persisted and said to her 'maybe you want to talk to mom or dad before you do this?'. By that point, the kid was one long blank expression. I suppose if he were a bit older, he'd actually be pissed off at this guy. But the grandmother did call the mom right there, and after grandma mentioned the magic 'grand theft auto' words to mom, she immediately looked at her grandson and tersely remarked 'she said no way'.

That was the end of that.

But the guy didn't just let the kid walk away defeated and humiliated. He quickly handed it back to the kid and said 'check out a few of the others we have in there and tell me what you think.' Not once did he say or do anything to make the kid or granny feel like crap or want to leave. He simply did what he should have morally and professionally. In the end, the kid walked out with a copy of Medal of Honor: Rising Sun. No, it's not GTA, but yes, much more appropriate for him.

I didn't want to make a big deal out of that situation, but I feel horrible now for not commending that guy on how he handled that situation. If only that happened everywhere, every time, it would make a serious difference in how kids interacted with games.

I can also only hope that parents, grandparents, etc, stop buying things for kids when they have no business doing so...