Just when you thought the animatronic nightmares at Chuck E. Cheese's could not possibly torture children any more than they already do, the LA Times has to go and bow the lid off of a story about the popular birthday restaurant's child labor law violations.
According to the LA Times report, 16 youngsters were put at risk when the restaurants allowed them to operate trash compactors. (Which, remember, is not a toy.) Two other kids were allowed to work the dough mixer, which might also explain why it tastes like cardboard. (Assuming it still does. Not having offspring ourselves, we haven't been to Chuck E. Cheese in ages. Not since we left our initials on the high score of the Simpsons Arcade Game, anyway. We can't imagine the Chuck E. Cheese corporate chef is really spending a lot of time perfecting that recipe, but we digress...)
According to CBS5, the chain has agreed to cough up $28,000 in prize tickets fines for the malfeasance. The offending locations were scattered around the Bay Area suburbs, where weak-minded youth tend to be found. The young workforce of San Francisco, meanwhile, has been spared thanks to the city's aversion to chain stores, miserable food and having fun while eating.
Taiwanese children responsible for making all those crappy prize toys were not immediately available to comment on the matter.
