Don't let your kids play in the balls

Alten · 2004-01-12, 10:23 PM

Don't let your kids play in the balls.. McDonalds (or any other)

Playground Ball Pits. Some of you might not be parents, but you may
have nieces, nephews, or grandchildren that this will pertain to.
As I read the following, my heart sank.
I urge each and every one of you to pass this on to
as many people as you can.
I cannot stress how important this is! This is very
disturbing news.
In addition to the following true story, I will also
add that my own sons were playing in the ball pit at Discovery Zone one
day.
One son lost his watch, and was very upset.
We dug and dug in those balls, trying to find the
watch.
Instead, we found vomit, food, feces, and other stuff I do not
want to discuss.
I went to the manager and raised heck.
Come to find out, the ball pit is only cleaned out
once a month.
I have doubts that it is even done that often.
My kids will never play in another ball pit.
Now read this:
Hi, My name is Lauren Archer.
My son, Kevin and I lived in Sugarland, Texas.
On October 2, 1994, I took my only son to McDonald's
for his 3rd birthday. After he finished lunch, I allowed him to play in
the ball pit.
When he started crying later, I asked him what was
wrong.
I looked, but couldn't find anything wrong with him
at the time.
I bathed him when we got home, and it was at that
point that I found a welt on his left buttock. Upon investigation, it
seemed as if there was a splinter under the welt. I made a doctor's
appointment for the next day to have it removed. In the meantime, he
started vomiting and shaking.
Then, his eyes rolled back in his head.
We immediately went to the emergency room!
My only son died later that night.
It turned out that the welt on his buttock was the
tip of a hypodermic needle that had broken off in his skin.
The autopsy revealed that Kevin had died from a
heroine overdose. The next day, the police removed the balls from the
ball pit and found rotten food, half-eaten candy, diapers, feces, the
stench of urine,and several hypodermic needles.
If you question the validity of this story, you can
find the article on Kevin Archer in the October 10, 1994
issue of the Houston Chronicle.
SEND THIS TO ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO HAS SMALL CHILDREN,
NIECES, NEPHEWS OR GRANDCHILDREN!

Strygun · 2004-01-12, 10:28 PM

this is an urban legend that's been going around for a while.

untrue, never happened.

(although finding food or something in the bottom of a ball pit I can understand, the needle thing never happened)

Sputty · 2004-01-12, 10:28 PM

FlakMan · 2004-01-13, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by Sputty

EineBeBoP · 2004-01-12, 10:28 PM

...damn....

OneManArmy · 2004-01-12, 10:30 PM

once i found enie's mom at the bottom of a ball bit

EineBeBoP · 2004-01-12, 10:31 PM

Burn (kinda sick picture)
OOhhhh BURN! that hurts man... that hurts... :tear

OneManArmy · 2004-01-12, 10:33 PM

I'm just j/k your name just caught my attention the most so i went with it.

Squick · 2004-01-12, 10:35 PM

http://hoaxinfo.com/archer.htm

This story has been circulating since at least 1998. It apparently resurfaced in February, 2000 and has even evolved a little since then. The original story I read took place in Sugarland, Texas and supposedly was reported in the Houston Chronicle. Then in February of 2000, a newer version appeared and it happened in Midland, Texas and was reported in a fictitious paper called the Midland Chronicle. Then a story reported that it took place in the fictitious town Midland, Tennessee (if there is such a place I couldn't find it), but the author decided that the name of the (fictitious) newspaper didn't need to be changed: The Midland Chronicle.

Just a brief moment of thought should make you realize that at the present street cost of heroin (even though it has come down in recent years) that there is no junkie in the world that would go through all the cost and trouble it takes to prepare a syringe and then simply drop a full syringe in the ball pit. Heroin syringes don't exactly come prepackaged!!

No matter which version you get remember: There is no Kevin Archer and nobody has died as a result of heroin injections or any other types of drug injections while playing in the Ball Pit at McDonald's. That is not to say that one could not encounter a used diabetic syringe or a pocket knife (more likely a plethora of McDonald's plastic utensils), or any number of things that could fall off of, or be dragged in by small children. It would be wise exercise a little caution around these pits, but it is very unlikely your child will die from an injection of a full syringe of heroin.

The Midland Reporter-Telegram denied it several times, however, those articles are no longer available online. The Houston Chronicle wrote a column denying it. But the urban legend lives on!!

By the way, a number of variations on this theme have emerged. There is a very similar story about a boy playing in the pit and being bitten by baby rattlesnakes and dying. Also, a story about a Discovery Zone ball pit filled with feces, vomit, and every other disgusting thing you can think of was circulating in conjunction with some of the versions mentioned above. All these stories appear to be false.

Here is the one that is circulating in 2002: