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by Julie Ryan Evans 14 hours ago
It was supposed to be a day of happiness and joy for Cara Doherty who was celebrating her 8th birthday. Then before she could even blow out her candles, it turned into a big old mess that ended up with police being called. All because her dad sang "Happy Birthday" to her.
It happened in London at a place called Clown Town. It's a kids' play place that sounds kind of a like our Chuck E. Cheese or something. According to Barnet and Whetsone Press, the problem was that her parents didn't buy the $450 birthday package. They had reportedly tried to get one previously but were told no more were available. So they showed up anyway with six parents and 18 kids, and since the place was virtually empty, they thought they were okay.
A waitress told them that since they didn't have the package they couldn't have a cake there nor could they sing "Happy Birthday." But who is going to seriously believe that's actually a rule anyone would enforce?
Not Cara's dad, Colm Doherty.
He told the paper:
I thought this was ridiculous and we did have our cake and lit candles, and when this lady came striding over I went up to her and told her not to disrupt my daughter’s party and blocked her way. I understand she phoned the police afterwards.
Seriously. Clown Town refutes Doherty's account saying, "the female member of staff who spoke to Mr Doherty felt threatened by his intimidating behaviour during the incident." Clown Town manager Ian Slazenger told the paper:
Had he been honest about the fact that he intended to bring his own food into the play area when he arrived that day, and had he chosen not to ignore our reasonable request not to do so, there would have been no need for our employees to become involved.
Well first off, it's not a reasonable request. Not letting someone bring in an outside cake is one thing, though it's pretty low. But trying to stop someone from singing "Happy Birthday" or any song really is just all sorts of wrong. And it should be noted that the Doherty's had already spent about $400 on food, drinks, and entry for the party guests. So it's not like they were just there to have cake and nothing else.
Fortunately, no charges were filed, but still what a power trip move by Clown Town. While Doherty clearly disobeyed the rules, you'd think a kid-friendly place like Clown Town could have done something a lot less disruptive than calling the police. It was only cake, and this was an 8-year-old's birthday at stake.
Do you think it was wrong for this play place to call the cops on this dad?
Image via Shardayyy/Flickr
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Julie Ryan Evans can be found writing from coffee houses wherever she may be. The quality of her days is largely influenced by the seat she nabs and whether a protein plate is available.
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