I have no issue with employing youth; giving young people work experience can be valuable. My concern is a business relying so heavily on young, inexperienced employees that mediocre service, okay management, and a lack of professionalism feel standard. I saw numerous very young-looking employees, including teenagers, throughout the space, and the atmosphere felt noticeably unprofessional. One girl at the register appeared extremely young. I considered asking her age but did not want to embarrass or shame her over something that was not her fault, so I assumed she was related to the owners or otherwise connected to the business. I do not blame children or teenagers for being inexperienced. Responsibility lies with the adults who hire, train, supervise, and manage them.
It was also astonishing that staff apparently assumed I could not understand them because I was not speaking their language. I am fully Albanian and understood exactly what was being said. I have no issue with them speaking Albanian and absolutely do not think they should stop. They simply need to watch what they say around customers because they never know who understands them. That applies from the youngest employee to the owners. Professionalism should not disappear because you assume a customer cannot understand you.
Most disturbing was what happened to my three-year-old son. He was cornered by about five children and repeatedly bothered to the point I considered it harassment. One child even asked to see my three-year-old son's underwear. That is wildly inappropriate and disturbing. He is a toddler and should be able to enter a children's business without being surrounded, intimidated, made uncomfortable, or asked invasive questions about his clothing or body. Children will be children, which is exactly why competent supervision should exist. If several children can corner and continue bothering a three-year-old like this, who exactly is watching the play area? Parents pay with the reasonable expectation that the environment is supervised enough for children, especially the youngest, to play safely and comfortably.
I was also concerned by what appears to be a broader pattern of complaints involving racism and homophobia associated with this playspace. I have heard mothers discuss these concerns and seen past Google reviews raising similar issues. To be fair, I will not label an entire business racist or homophobic based solely on secondhand conversations or other people's reviews. However, during my own visit, I personally noticed behavior from a few younger employees that I felt implied racial prejudice, making previous complaints much harder to dismiss. I cannot verify every allegation ever made about this business and will not pretend I can. I can only speak to what I witnessed, and it was enough to make me question the culture and level of professionalism being tolerated.
I also worry about what would happen in a genuinely serious situation. In a space that struck me as heavily staffed by very young, inexperienced, and sometimes unprofessional employees, I question how effectively an emergency, conflict, or serious incident involving a child would be handled. Hopefully that never happens, but a children's space must be prepared for it. A lack of maturity, supervision, or professionalism may seem merely irritating during a normal visit, but in a serious situation it could have much greater consequences. That is why the atmosphere I witnessed should not be brushed off as harmless.
Although my visit was a couple of months ago, I wanted to share it so other parents can make the correct judgment about whether this playspace is right for them and their children. read more
