the way the world used to look

Remember that advertising slogan "I'm a Toys R Us kid"? I used to have one of those T-shirts, but I was never a Toys R Us kid. In fact, I was deeply disappointed and never found out why anyone would want to go to Toys R Us. And Toys R Us had no one else to blame except themselves.

Growing up, there was this advertisement on tv with children singing "I don't want to grow up..." and you see happy children running around this furry, child-friendly amusement park-like place with a giant giraffe. I don't think I had ever been to an amusement park then, but I really wanted to go to Toys R Us. I bugged my parents and finally they brought me there. I have no memory of going there unfortunately. The next memory I have with relation to Toys R Us is seeing the ad again on tv and asking my parents if we could go. They looked at me and said, "But we've been there and you didn't like it."

Since I have no memory of ever going to Toys R Us, I shall have to imagine what my impression of Toys R Us was. My guess is that I saw rows and rows and shelves and shelves of boxes, colorful boxes but nonetheless boxes. Maybe there were a few toys out for kids to play with, but there was definitely no giant giraffe prancing around, or rides, or gardens of fluffy giant animals. You can see how an impressionable child of 5 was scarred for life. Why would she ever be a Toys R Us kid? Clearly, Toys R Us had a lot to learn from MacDonald's with regards to marketing and children, bringing up hopes and dashing them.

I don't watch tv too much these days, if at all. I wonder how many other children out there get disappointed like I did when I was much younger. Monkeys don't hop out of cereal boxes (Cocoa Crunch used to have that) and swing around the kitchen. You don't get a strange tiger(?) on an adventure with children looking for hidden treasure (Paddle Pop ice cream) being chased around by a pirate. Having been taken in by one advertisement, I learnt to ignore those false advertisements, and consequently the products to prevent further disappointment. Paddle Pop ice cream will never taste good to me, and I didn't enjoy Cocoa Crunch. I'll forever be confused about why I don't get a swinging monkey in my kitchen, or a treasure hunt for ice cream.

Some childhood memories are strange, but they are the way I have seen the world. Silly as I may have been, I still make sense to myself.