...You just have to be faster than your parents
May 11, 2012 8:01 AM   Subscribe

 
... and he was never seen again.

The End.
posted by mhoye at 8:03 AM on May 11, 2012 [7 favorites]


I'm simply saying that life, uh... finds a way.
posted by Fizz at 8:05 AM on May 11, 2012 [11 favorites]


I guess we've established which category of Fight or Flight young Zack falls into.

Though, cute. One day he will discover Turok Dinosaur Hunter and his nightmares will cease.
posted by Atreides at 8:07 AM on May 11, 2012 [4 favorites]


Where is this walking path with awesome giant robot dinosaurs and why has no one told me about it?
posted by Vectorcon Systems at 8:07 AM on May 11, 2012 [44 favorites]


It would have been a lot funnier if the dinosaur and pounced on him and proceeded to eat him in front of his parents.
posted by kbanas at 8:08 AM on May 11, 2012 [24 favorites]


Needs more tar pit.
posted by R. Schlock at 8:09 AM on May 11, 2012 [3 favorites]


This seems kind of mean.
posted by insectosaurus at 8:11 AM on May 11, 2012 [19 favorites]


1.1 million people have never interacted with a 2 year old.
posted by DU at 8:11 AM on May 11, 2012 [3 favorites]


Kind of dickish on the part of the parents.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:12 AM on May 11, 2012 [14 favorites]


It's not remotely mean. If a child runs, he might be scared. If he runs while yelling RUN! RUN! he's playing and having a great time.
posted by DU at 8:12 AM on May 11, 2012 [14 favorites]


This seems kind of mean.

oops you spelled HILARIOUS wrong
posted by elizardbits at 8:12 AM on May 11, 2012 [62 favorites]


Kids are the best. First, the shocked pause: "O.M.G. A dinosaur. In real life. !!!" Then, the contemplative moment: "But what does this mean? It's not trying to eat me. Ought I be scared? I could, perhaps, run. I wonder if I should run." Then, the decision: "I will, indeed, run. But I should also warn my parents." The result: "Ruuuuuuuun!!! Ruuuuunnn!"
posted by that's candlepin at 8:14 AM on May 11, 2012 [25 favorites]


I for one support the notion of letting a child have one moment - just one moment! - in his life where he honestly believes that dinosaurs are real and worth running from. He's got the rest of his years to watch Jurassic Park in a vain attempt to summon up just a shred of what he's feeling right there. Dull reality will assert itself all too soon.
posted by bicyclefish at 8:15 AM on May 11, 2012 [49 favorites]


Also tbh I give this kid a lot more credit than that dumb baby last week who couldn't even muster up a moment of halfhearted bestartlement for a REAL LIVE LION.
posted by elizardbits at 8:19 AM on May 11, 2012 [30 favorites]


Greatest movie idea ever just hit me: gather up a group of two year olds, strap tiny cameras to their heads, and set them loose in a park where giant mechanical dinosaurs stalk them. Take the footage and edit it into a full-length Blair Witch for toddlers. Your welcome, movie industry.
posted by naju at 8:23 AM on May 11, 2012 [38 favorites]


AWWWWW. That's sadorable.

I remember my first animatronic dinosaur vacation. I must have been, like, seven? Possibly younger. I think I'd heard about it at school and I begged my parents to take me for weeks and weeks which wasn't really necessary because I think both my parents were totally on board from the word "dinosaur."

Anyway, when we finally got there I realized that giant robot dinosaurs are actually kind of a frightening thing--they were making so much noise and I was just terrified. I peeked in, nodded overdramatically and calmly walked back to the car, content to have seen the animatronic dinosaurs from a safe distance.

My parents dragged me back in, though, and I was completely petrified the entire time and it was awesome and I loved it.
posted by byanyothername at 8:23 AM on May 11, 2012 [4 favorites]


Wunn! WUNN!
posted by leotrotsky at 8:28 AM on May 11, 2012 [6 favorites]


You byanyothername (or at least a current version of you who is seven years old and lives in my neighborhood) is why I put giant animatronic spiders in my lawn on Halloween.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 8:29 AM on May 11, 2012 [2 favorites]


I'm having flashbacks to when I used to watch Land of the Lost when I was a kid, and that freakin' Grumpy absolutely TERRIFIED me. Especially that last shot in the opening credits where he chases the gang into the cave and misses them, and he looks over his shoulder at the camera, and turns and comes RIGHT FOR YOU with his jaws gaping. Nightmare fuel for four-year-old Gator.
posted by Gator at 8:29 AM on May 11, 2012 [2 favorites]


The phrase "my first animatronic dinosaur vacation" is not a phrase relevant to my childhood.

We had merry-go-rounds. When I was a little kid, the carnival would come to town once a year, and it featured a merry-go-round that had (small, pretend) motorcycles instead of horses. That ride was AWESOME.

And now, kids go on animatronic-dinosaur vacations. Multiple, apparently. This fact is challenging my ability to muster sympathy for Zack.
posted by cribcage at 8:31 AM on May 11, 2012 [5 favorites]


that's so awesome.
posted by Elly Vortex at 8:32 AM on May 11, 2012


AWWWWW. That's sadorable.

Typo, or great new portmanteau word?
posted by newmoistness at 8:34 AM on May 11, 2012 [21 favorites]


I guess we were all socialized in this way, but it's always startling to see that socialization in action. Sausage, etc.
posted by rebent at 8:36 AM on May 11, 2012


Is this going to turn into the lioness thread where some people call them bad parents for laughing when their kid is in terror and might be potentially eaten by robot dinosaurs running amok?

When I was a wee lad, I remember there was some touring animatronic dinosaur exhibit. Anyone else remember that? It was basically this, but with a lot of them, and I think you could reach out and touch some of them. I was in robot dinosaur heaven and my mom had to physically drag me out because I'd pretty much decided I was going to live there forever.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 8:40 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


So it just occurred to me that Giant Monster Movies and animatronic dinosaurs have probably doomed us all. Think about it. You're walking down a forest path and suddenly there's a prehistoric beast looming out from the trees, brandishing a Christmas wreath. Your natural human survival reaction, like a healthy two-year old's, is to scream and run away. But no, you've been to Disney World! You will chuckle and say 'Oh neat' and walk up to the prehistoric beast to get a closer look at how it works and YOU WILL GET EATEN.
posted by shakespeherian at 8:45 AM on May 11, 2012 [4 favorites]


In Banner Elk, North Carolina, there used to be a Wizard of Oz attraction that was set up in much the same way, where we encountered characters from the story along the path (yellow-brick, no less). One of my parents' favorite stories is about me reacting the same way to the Wicked Witch, complete with yelling and full retreat.

I grew up fine, by the way.
posted by bibliowench at 8:48 AM on May 11, 2012


So it just occurred to me that Giant Monster Movies and animatronic dinosaurs have probably doomed us all. Think about it.

Our ability to fight bigger creatures alone and unarmed isn't the reason we're at the top of the food chain.
posted by mhoye at 8:48 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


I like that he warns others.

And, really, 'wunning' is the sensible approach when you're dealing with a twenty-foot children-eating monster.
posted by Phreesh at 8:48 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


idk if Disney is really a good example. I would run screaming if any wreath-brandishing robot began singing IT'S A SMALL WORLD at me in a horrible shrill recorded child's voice.
posted by elizardbits at 8:49 AM on May 11, 2012 [5 favorites]


Doing this with a kid who loves dinosaurs, and presumably knows that they go "RRRROAR!" and have big gnashy pointy teeth, is one thing. Saying "Run!" probably primed him to go into flight mode, but whatever.

Telling your so-terrified-of-snakes-that-she-can't-deal-with-curled-up-belts 10-year-old daughter that you have a "wonderful, awesome surprise" for her, having her close her eyes so you can lead her, and making her open them in front of a 30 FUCKING FOOT EXTREMELY REALISTIC FAKE ANACONDA JESUS FUCKING CHRIST????? And then encouraging her 9-year-old brother and the tourist family you just met to laugh at the shrieking girl, because it was just so funny? Not so good.

I have a wonderful, awesome relationship with my mom. Why do you ask?
posted by Madamina at 8:49 AM on May 11, 2012 [12 favorites]


Our ability to fight bigger creatures alone and unarmed isn't the reason we're at the top of the food chain.

I wasn't talking about fighting, I was talking about running the fuck away.
posted by shakespeherian at 8:50 AM on May 11, 2012 [3 favorites]


I'm appalled that nobody is thinking about the poor dinosaur here. Constantly tempted by passing morsels of prey, unable to chase them down and devour them because he's just animatronic and not a even a proper robot... It's inhumane.
posted by The Prawn Reproach at 8:54 AM on May 11, 2012 [7 favorites]


Spoiler: he grows up to be John Connor.
posted by chavenet at 8:58 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


Run Zack... come back Zack...

make up your friggen mind dad.

Personally the only thing I disliked about the video is that they put it up on youtube.
posted by edgeways at 9:02 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


This is the part where we criticize other people's parenting skills?
posted by schwa at 9:04 AM on May 11, 2012 [2 favorites]


This is the part where we criticize other people's parenting skills?

Yes. I for one am outraged that the toddler was not forced to knife fight the robodino. HOW ELSE WILL HE LEARN.
posted by elizardbits at 9:13 AM on May 11, 2012 [23 favorites]


Personally the only thing I disliked about the video is that they put it up on youtube.

And then you watched it. ENABLER.
posted by chococat at 9:14 AM on May 11, 2012 [3 favorites]


I love posts like this...

If I say one thing, half the world thinks I'm some sort of child abuser.

If I say another thing, the other half thinks I'm anal retentive, helicopter-parent-guy with no sense of humor.

Anything else just makes me look boring.

like this comment...sigh
posted by HuronBob at 9:31 AM on May 11, 2012 [9 favorites]


This is awesome! It's perfect for that hilarious show, America's Funniest Home Videos!
posted by KokuRyu at 9:33 AM on May 11, 2012 [2 favorites]


I ws kind hoping some other dinosaur would spring out from a hidden spot and scare the crap out of the adults.

Why should the toddler have all the fun?
posted by oddman at 9:36 AM on May 11, 2012


When I was a kid (6th grade, maybe?) I spent a summer leading tours at a temporary Dinamation exhibit at the Audubon Zoo.

One thing I noticed was that little kids had absolutely no issue walking up to the full-sized T. rex and roaring back at it. But if you put on a paper-mache Lambeosaurus mask they would run away in terror.
posted by brundlefly at 9:46 AM on May 11, 2012


My six-year-old is convinced a grizzly bear is going to climb in through his window at night and maul him.

It's taking every bit of restraint to keep me from getting a bear suit and a ladder.

Tonight, we're making a bear-attack-early-warning device out of string and two Coke cans filled with pennies.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:50 AM on May 11, 2012 [28 favorites]


Your six-year-old is Stephen Colbert, isn't he?
posted by brundlefly at 9:54 AM on May 11, 2012 [6 favorites]


When I was three years old my folks had my sister and I in Colonial Williamsburg. It was hot. We were tired. It was 1960.

A small distance from us the militia were giving a demonstration of their cannon and were actually firing it without projectiles. It was very, very loud.

With the first shot, I screamed. Incoming! We were being fired upon! I remember the feeling of frustration that nobody else saw fit to flee, when clearly, our lives were in extreme danger!

Everyone laughing at me only made the feeling worse.
posted by kinnakeet at 9:55 AM on May 11, 2012


It's taking every bit of restraint to keep me from getting a bear suit and a ladder.

This would be pretty awesome if you nonlethally armed him first. LIFE LESSONS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY.
posted by elizardbits at 9:59 AM on May 11, 2012 [2 favorites]


My six-year-old is convinced a grizzly bear is going to climb in through his window at night and maul him.


In all honesty, I've had that reoccurring dream for the past 20 years, usually at least once or twice a week. I'm not really afraid of bears anymore, but that was helped because I slept with a fully charged fire extinguisher next to me until I was 10.

I mean, go ahead and scare him IF YOU NEVER WANT HIM TO SLEEP AGAIN.
posted by JimmyJames at 9:59 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


New question: What if, instead of a robot dinosaur, it was a giant metal chicken?
posted by shakespeherian at 10:00 AM on May 11, 2012 [3 favorites]


Thanks, brundlefly! It was Dinamation I was thinking of and I probably went to the one at the Audubon Zoo and now I'm going to do nothing but think about dinosaurs.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 10:01 AM on May 11, 2012


I just had a flashback to my first carnival haunted house experience.
posted by orme at 10:04 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


I can't believe the parents would just stand there filming while there toddler runs free that close to a dinosaur.

Sure, it's probably just an anamatronic dinosaur that can't really get to the kid, but only a terrible parent would take that chance. All it takes is one real dinosaur prowling around among the fake ones and your child would be dead.

And what about the dinosaur? It clearly wants to eat that child, and would eat him, if it were only real enough. I don't like these hipster parents laughing at the dinosaur. I doubt very much it enjoys being fake.
posted by straight at 10:05 AM on May 11, 2012 [16 favorites]


New question: What if, instead of a robot dinosaur, it was a giant metal chicken?

Chicken Boo, what's the matter with you?

(You're a robot, that's what's the matter)
posted by hippybear at 10:05 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


That kid should be on a leash. Parental fail.
posted by punchee at 10:07 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


There's a wildlife foundation near us that does these dinos every fall, tucked in along the nature trail. They move and spit and roar...its the grooviest thing ever to take a kid. We go every year.
posted by dejah420 at 10:09 AM on May 11, 2012


Parenting skills score sheet.

1. Father primed reaction with "Should you run?'
+1 for encouraging role playing
-1 for prming a fear reaction.
= + 5 for just being a dad.

2. Mother stepped forward in front of him and said "are you scared"
+8 for using posture and positioning to create security and non-verbal reassurance
-1 for framing meta cognition in the negative
+12 for role playing, general sillyness
+30 for letting him run and be 50+ yards away without chasing after him panicked.
+500 for the fact that he has his shoes AND a hat on, I mean, damn.
= +5 for being a mom.

Score:
5+5 x THE FACT THEY TOOK HIM TO A FUCKING ROBOT DINOSAUR PARK = pretty fucking good parents.
posted by JimmyJames at 10:13 AM on May 11, 2012 [47 favorites]


I was seven and crouching behind the cinema seats because the dinosaurs in Fantasia were unbelievably scary. I wonder what Zack will find cute in his kids.
posted by stonepharisee at 10:25 AM on May 11, 2012


Too bad there's little chance of a dinosaur apocalypse, or this kid would survive us all. We'd all be frozen in place with delight and get eaten. I don't know... I'm hoping my instincts would override my joy.
posted by Sayuri. at 10:29 AM on May 11, 2012


newmoistness: "AWWWWW. That's sadorable.

Typo, or great new portmanteau word?
"

That reminds me of "Depressarific" that my friend coined years ago. I think "sadorable" was intentional (I sure hope so!)
posted by symbioid at 10:50 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


The similar videos on the sidebar has this, which I think is even more sadorable.
posted by BurnChao at 10:55 AM on May 11, 2012


Psssht. Dinosaurs are tame. You want to properly terrorize a kid, use a fake shark.
posted by gottabefunky at 11:05 AM on May 11, 2012


Thanks to this post I just discovered that my favorite amusement park, Cedar Point, has a new dinosaur park that opens tomorrow. I am filled with quiet joy.
posted by newg at 11:06 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


Fenton! FENTON!
posted by Decani at 11:11 AM on May 11, 2012 [5 favorites]


It's not just thst the kid runs away that makes this so adorable, it's that he commits to it. No running 20 feet and then slowing down or looking back... No, he keeps on going. It's too latw for mom and dad, he's gonna save himself.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 11:12 AM on May 11, 2012 [10 favorites]


Run Zack... come back Zack...

make up your friggen mind dad.


Heh, the anemic "come back ..." at the end was the funniest part.

Personally the only thing I disliked about the video is that they put it up on youtube.

Agreed. It's a hilarious home video, but a mediocre viral video.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:12 AM on May 11, 2012


Every kid is different. With mine, even the stationary-except-for-the mouths dinos at the museum were a little much; I had to find a nearby bench where he could stand behind me, and then "ruin" it by showing him where the mechanics were obviously attached (you could see the foot wasn't touching the ground, and it kind of creaked, etc.) Once he could have something to look at that said "fake" he did much better, especially when we started talking about how cool it would be to build robot dinos and scare other people. Then we had a good time, even when we walked past another "surprise" T-rex at the end.

Being one of Those People who deliberately reads movie spoilers for anything that might be remotely scary (so it won't make me too anxious because I know it's coming), I understand him completely. In contrast, my family thought my overanxious scaredyness was funny because they didn't understand how good I was at imagining horrible scenarios and believing in Imminent Gruesome Death.
posted by emjaybee at 11:27 AM on May 11, 2012 [3 favorites]


For some reason this reminds me of something my dad did to me once. I was probably 6 or 7ish years old, and not quite tall enough to reach the lightswitch in my room (which was placed oddly high). My parents had put this contraption with a pull-string and a wooden ball on the switch. My habit at night was to go upstairs (where it was COMPLETELY dark), reach into my doorway, find the ball, and turn on the light before I would dare walk into my room.

Anyway, one night I go upstairs to go to bed, and when I reach into my room to turn the light on, this hand grabs my arm and there's this big figure yelling and growling and OMG I FREAKED THE FUCK OUT. I screamed as loudly as a small girl can, and continued screaming as I ran down the stairs and through the entire house. My mom, who had no idea what had happened, came running from the kitchen and intercepted me as I continued to shriek. I fell into her arms and started bawling my eyes out.

Dad came downstairs and started apologizing profusely. Mom gave him a reproachful look and then they both started cracking up laughing. I probably cried for half an hour. I remember that I had never been so startled/scared in my entire life.
posted by tryniti at 11:45 AM on May 11, 2012


Yeah, this video clip is a very mild-to-unrelated example of the genre, but as someone who defaults to watching America's Funniest Videos because there's nothing else I can watch for the 15 minutes I have to sit in front of the telly, I need to emphasise that people - parents in particular - who think scaring small children is funny or acceptable, really need to be genuinely frightened themselves. Like, doors-kicked-in home-invasion-beating-gunfire type frightened. Because that shit is f**ked up.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 11:54 AM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


I remember when I was young and these types of things were magically real. Even if he did think it was real, don't you guys get it? He SAW a dinosaur, then OUT-RAN said dinosaur! HE HAS THE BESTEST STORY EVER TO TELL HIS FRIENDS!
No Zack, I can't top outrunning a dinosaur. Tip o' the hat to you, you adventurous explorer.
posted by Rocket Surgeon at 12:08 PM on May 11, 2012


There's a robot dinosaur like that at the zoo here (Calgary), only its head is right over the path. I suggested to my wife that we should bring some fake blood* to put on its mouth, and a little pile of shredded 2-yo clothes to leave on the pathway. Sadly, she didn't think my project had artistic merit, but what could I do? - our kids are too old to be scared by this kind of thing.

*or a rib roast! Who's with me?!
posted by sneebler at 12:09 PM on May 11, 2012 [3 favorites]


It's too latw for mom and dad, he's gonna save himself.

Smart kids know you don't have to outrun the raptor. You just have to outrun your parents and siblings.
posted by straight at 12:38 PM on May 11, 2012 [4 favorites]


A couple years ago I went for a walk to a scenic waterfall in Shenandoah National Park with my sister in law and her three kids, 6, 4 and 0. Drifting along the path, then we see a bear cub over the other side of the creek, 50 yards off. 'oooh, shh kids, don't scare it off, look!'. Then we saw a mother bear on the other side of the path, putting us not quite directly between her and the cub. Fortunately the mother just ambled across the path 20 yards down from us and they disappeared. The kids weren't scared but my sister in law may never recover.
posted by jacalata at 12:39 PM on May 11, 2012


Field Station Dinosaurs. Opens in a few weeks. My five-year-old is ecstatic.

Not sure if this is video is from there, but it sure could be. I know they've been working gangbusters to get it all done in time for the opening.
posted by mrbarrett.com at 1:08 PM on May 11, 2012


Is that a Xmas wreath around the dinosaur?
posted by stormpooper at 1:11 PM on May 11, 2012


HE HAS THE BESTEST STORY EVER TO TELL HIS FRIENDS!
No Zack, I can't top outrunning a dinosaur. Tip o' the hat to you, you adventurous explorer.


When he's 80, that cute little tyke will be the Commander McBragg of his day, bloviating about his improbable victories over the cyborgasaurs.
posted by aught at 1:25 PM on May 11, 2012


My 4 yr old niece thought this was really funny but thought the kid was stupid for running. Being a good uncle, I've taught her you don't run from a T-Rex or any carnivorous dinosaur. You wait for them to get closer, yell at them "Hey T-Rex! I got something to say to you." When the T-Rex bends down to listen, you punch him in the nose! This will briefly incapacitate the dinosaur and then you can begin running.
posted by honestcoyote at 2:20 PM on May 11, 2012 [3 favorites]


Japanese five-year-olds vs. a zombie. A whole TV show teams up to unleash a very small zombie apocalypse on a couple of kids. This was the subject of an FPP a while back, but the link died.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:29 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


We had merry-go-rounds. When I was a little kid, the carnival would come to town once a year, and it featured a merry-go-round that had (small, pretend) motorcycles instead of horses. That ride was AWESOME.

Yeah, the carnivals of my childhood were like this, too. Except the proprietors were always buying people's souls and stuff, and whenever they left we were always missing a few kids and had a couple of extras left behind that weren't... quite right. On the whole, I think I favor the robot dinosaurs. You know where you stand with them.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:44 PM on May 11, 2012


The people here offended by this who think it's just shy of child abuse all probably all have something in common: they don't have kids.
posted by zardoz at 3:05 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


I need to emphasise that people - parents in particular - who think scaring small children is funny or acceptable, really need to be genuinely frightened themselves.

..

The people here offended by this who think it's just shy of child abuse all probably all have something in common: they don't have kids.

Probably true. If they did, they'd probably realize you have no idea how your child will react to some shit until they see it. This is the first time any of them have probably seen robot dinosaurs.

For a while, my daughter was afraid of curtains at the market blowing in the wind. Curtains.

If I were a kid, I would have loved this. I loved haunted houses and stuff, no matter how scary. Flaming, moving dinosaur? Awesome. When I was old enough to run that fast I would have loved it.

But other, more innocuous stuff, I was scared of. You just never know. I really doubt the intent of the parents was to scare their kid. I have no idea if the kid was joking. If my 3 y.o. daughter did it, I'd have no idea if she were joking or not until I caught up with her (if she were upset, she'd be crying.)

I also don't have much problem with them broadcasting it. If it were my kid, my mom would love to see it. YouTube is an easy way to show it to many friends at once.
posted by mrgrimm at 3:47 PM on May 11, 2012 [2 favorites]


Where is this walking path with awesome giant robot dinosaurs and why has no one told me about it?
Heard Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary in McKinney, TX.
posted by linux at 4:00 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


I don't think it's child abuse... It's just the fact that they're encouraging their son to run away, as though there was real danger.

I've got a couple of kids, and one of them is pretty sensitive to this sort of thing. We visited an animatronic dinosaur exhibit, and my eldest son, at 5, refused to go in. He's the kind of kid that gets nightmares and needs to sleep with the light on.

In short, dinosaurs = good, intentionally trying to scare the crap out of your 2 year old, not so good.
posted by KokuRyu at 4:08 PM on May 11, 2012


I don't think it's child abuse... It's just the fact that they're encouraging their son to run away, as though there was real danger.

I must've missed that part in the video--what exactly was the encouragement? That kid just bolted, all of his own volition, and the parents laughed, sure, but the mom said "come back!" But where was the encouragement?
posted by zardoz at 4:23 PM on May 11, 2012


I remember my first animatronic dinosaur vacation.

You lucky bastard.
posted by smoke at 4:51 PM on May 11, 2012


0.21: Dad: run, Zack...
Mum (breathless), to Zack: what is it? are you scared?
posted by jacalata at 5:34 PM on May 11, 2012


0.21: Dad: run, Zack...
Mum (breathless), to Zack: what is it? are you scared?


What. Of. It? If you think that's abuse, or cruelty, or...what? Spell it out.
posted by zardoz at 5:44 PM on May 11, 2012


I don't get why these parents - and the lion baby parents - can't check in and be with their children without cracking up and laughing at them. Laugh at the video later, sure. Tell your friends, sure. But why mock your child in front of them? If your child's reaction is to run, run with him (especially if you told him to run). You can do this and find out later whether it was all in fun or fear. But why, even if the child was running as a joke, would you not run with them? It's the standing there laughing at your child that I find troublesome.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 5:51 PM on May 11, 2012 [3 favorites]


sadorable - adj \sa-ˈdȯr-ə-bəl\

1. describing a situation deserving of both sympathy and uncontrollable reflex smiles
posted by byanyothername at 6:01 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


No I bloody don't. I thought that was an example of what you asked for: 'where are the parents encouraging him to run?'. My bad, must have missed the 'rhetorical' aspect of your question.
posted by jacalata at 6:04 PM on May 11, 2012


Vectorcon Systems: Dinosaur World.

You're welcome.
posted by pecanpies at 6:08 PM on May 11, 2012


The most surprising thing to me is that there's A science museum in Texas.
posted by dave78981 at 7:07 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


I LIVED RIGHT DOWN THE ROAD FOR YEARS AND NEVER KNEW

GOD DAMN IT
posted by radiosilents at 7:52 PM on May 11, 2012 [1 favorite]


I feel sorry for the hungry dinosaur.
posted by arcticseal at 9:23 PM on May 11, 2012


We don't see what the parents do afterwards which would make all the difference. They could've caught up to the kid and spent time making him feel safe and finding a way to laugh it off, or perhaps by the time they got to him he was grinning thinking he'd made them all scared by running away yelling.

I'm willing to bet he isn't the first 2 year old to run away from the dinosaur telling everyone to run.
posted by Salmonberry at 1:32 AM on May 12, 2012


When my youngest son was about 3 we took him to the Museum of Natural History for the first time. He was looking forward to seeing the dinosaurs. When we got to the dinosaur exhibit, with all the bones, he said with great dismay and disappointment " They're dead!"
posted by mermayd at 3:18 AM on May 12, 2012


It's the standing there laughing at your child that I find troublesome.

Why? You know what? Kids are fucking hilarious. Something else, most kids adore making adults laugh. Anyone who has sat through the endless awful days of non-jokes while children try to work out the connection between "knock knock" and the funny should know this. Equally, many children often start exhibiting "unwanted" behaviours because they saw that saying something or other cracked their parents up.

This child is plainly performing too. You don't yelp "Run! Run! Run!" as you bound along unless you think it's cute. What a really scared child would do is cry and run to a parent, not copy something out of a cartoon.

We generally don't do kids any good by pretending that they're not funny as hell when they actually are (except in the case of truly undesirable but still hilarious stuff). We absolutely don't do them any good by all this wrinkle-nosed "my shit don't stink" judging of parents. We know nothing about this family other than that they all appear to be having fun. I suggest we enjoy the spectacle and move on with our lives.
posted by howfar at 4:03 AM on May 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


In a sense, we are all running away from what we saw when we were two.
posted by Renoroc at 6:11 AM on May 12, 2012


I like this video better—less "Run, you fools!", more "rollercoaster fun/scary"
posted by blueberry at 11:50 AM on May 12, 2012


(a bit better video quality, with some kid feedback in this version)
posted by blueberry at 12:03 PM on May 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


We absolutely don't do them any good by all this wrinkle-nosed "my shit don't stink" judging of parents.

Some of the opinions in this thread seemed to have touched a nerve!
posted by KokuRyu at 1:50 PM on May 12, 2012


If you mean that I find people criticising parents based on what they think is going with their children pretty irritating, then yes. But it's also just how I talk and consequently (rightly or wrongly) how I comment online, with no offence actually meant.

I swear too much. Personally I blame my parents.
posted by howfar at 4:45 PM on May 12, 2012


I also swear too much. I also blame howfar's parents.
posted by hippybear at 7:08 PM on May 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


Mother says "fuck off" by the way, hippybear.
posted by howfar at 4:46 AM on May 13, 2012 [3 favorites]


It's the standing there laughing at your child that I find troublesome.

I went to the zoo a couple Octobers ago with a friend and a couple of her friends, both of whom had young daughters (3-4 years old) with them. It being October, the zoo was decorated for Halloween -- life-size tableaux with (human) skeletons doing mundane things like painting a picture or catching butterflies with a big net. We'd walked past at least half a dozen of these displays already, but when we got to a fairly elaborate one of a skeleton wedding, something about that particular one just set one of the girls off.

She walked up to it and studied it for a moment. And then: "Hey. HEY. I'm not scared of you." Thus began a rant that lasted a solid five minutes or so. "You think you're big and tough? You're not that tough." Fist raised to the sky, leaning forward, butt thrust backward, face full of intensity. It was like she was re-creating a monologue from her favorite possibly-not-appropriate-for-a-4-year-old film. "You will not defeat me. I WILL DESTROY YOU!" And when she was done, she turned around, gave a little nod to her audience, and walked back toward us.

It was awesome. Hilariously awesome. And yes, we were all laughing over it, her mother included. But as the skeleton-wedding-induced haze cleared from her eyes and she saw our reaction, she looked sideways at us, muttered: "I don't LIKE it when people LAUGH at me" and took off at a run, skidding to a stop behind a big bush nearby. The rest of us stood there, awkward and guilt-ridden, while her mother followed after her and sat with her for a few minutes, eventually persuading her to return to the group. Lesson learned: Remember that kids don't like to be laughed at any more than adults do.

Except, you know what? There was plenty of time after the fact for her mother to talk to her about why we were laughing, and that we weren't making fun of her, and about what an awesome kid she is, and to find out if there was genuine fear lurking under that magnificent performance.

What would have been a better reaction to little Zack running away from the dinosaur? To take his performance completely seriously and jump to comfort him? Immediately inform him that it's all fake? Stand in grim silence? It doesn't seem to me like any of those would have served Zack better than a little laughter.
posted by alyxstarr at 8:12 AM on May 14, 2012


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