ChuckE

Cheezeis:

Where a kid can… train

to be a good

Capitalist!Roni t Amaya

Cultural AnthropologySocial Interaction

Dr. Wolfe12-10-08

Tavo, the boy and eldest son 6 years old, naturally opens the door for his sister Nomi, the girl and youngest daughter 5 years old. He does so to model the traditional male role of chivalry and leader of his loved ones. He has been taught that a man’s role in life is to be the strong protector and one of the ways he does so is to show mutual respect and humility by this socially common practice. Nomi excepts her role as the female and

excepts the gracious offer with honor. Both acts in the business world are not to be taken as weakness, in fact are taught as great strengths by their family members who are very successful businesspeople.

Chuck E Cheeze wants to create an environment that is safe and fruitful for all parties involved. There is only 1 entrance/exit so all traffic in and out can be monitored. The door man wears the Referee jersey symbolizing a person of authority and mediation for protection of all parties involved. All people in the same group are stamped with the same number with fluorescent ink that can only be seen under the black light. The hands are read upon exit to ensure that no

child goes into the wrong hands. This way, the parents can relax, socialize and allow their little trainees some independence in practicing to become good capitalists one day.

The kids enter into a room that appears to be chaotic but in reality is very well organized. There are rules of engagement, how one should and should not play. They are displayed very clearly at kids eye level with bright colored pictures for all to

see and understand. Shoes must be removed in respect for cleanliness and order. Once removed, there is a designated cubby organization system for safety and esthetic appearance. There is a definite area for infants to play, another area for

young children to play and the last area for the older children to play. This allows them to enter into their first unofficial business contract to observe proper business conduct and to do so independently as responsible young businesspeople.

Tavo takes the initiative to go up to his father to ask for the initial loan to start their investments. Nomi and Tavo are always equal business partners and work equally in each endeavor and split all earnings equally. His father is not only the

business role model in the family, but also acts as the BIG business being solicited by the New business. They have to convince him to take a chance on the loan and that Tavo and his Sister can provide a great return on his investment. His

father is skeptical in this waning economy… but takes the bait and loans them 1 dollar in American currency. Tavo excepts the small loan reluctantly. I also want to point out that as the protector of the family, their father sits by the door always

keeping watch of all activities, making sure nobody walks off with any of his loved ones.

Tavo takes the loan and goes to the exchange machine to get the chuck e cheese currency (tokens) to then invest in his many different options. This I believe represents the non liquid monetary bank options such as stock and foreign

investments. They get a certain amt of coin per money invested and they have to choose which options they will invest in. Meanwhile, Nomi is carefully scoping out the games that will give the most return for their dollar. High risk, high rewards. They only have 4 coins, that’s 4 games they can invest in to make the most tickets possible. The machine even resembles a

form of an ATM machine… give money to a bank to move it around in foreign and stock investments.

Their first few investments were not very wise ones. They chose to play in the auto industry, which they were both in over their heads. Nomi jumped in on it spontaneously and didn’t know how to work the petals. Tavo, concerned with his return,

jumped right into his leadership role and operated the foot petals manually… Well, needless to say, they got no return on this investment. They moved to a safer method: a simple coin machine. Even though there was a guaranteed return on

their investment, there was no telling how much. They only won 2 tickets here... Low risk, low rewards. So then they got desperate and tried to cheat by walking up the ski ball game. They got disqualified immediately and lost their 3rd token, but

gained a bunch of wisdom.

Tavo was tired of playing in the kiddy pool and decided to take on the BIG Dogs! He saw that this boy was very well off (look at the size of that ticket bag) and wanted to try to impress this big dog into possibly investing in him. So he challenged him to a game of air hockey. Nomi was not at all interested in gambling her last token away, but she was vetoed by Tavo. She was upset about that. The big boy of course did not expect that Tavo would win him, so he excepted the challenge for Tavo to prove himself worthy of his wealth. Well… in the end, Tavo won the big boy 7-5. Yes… the boy was so impressed with Tavo that he GAVE him 322 tickets interest free. Tavo followed his business instincts and it paid off big in the end.

Nomi is still not happy about being overlooked in their business plan… but they both learned, and earned, a great deal from it.

They now put their foreign exchange money into another machine that looks like another bank ATM machine. The machine calculates their earnings and gives them a Voucher with the amount it is worth in domestic currency. This voucher

is sort of like a money order or a check withdrawal from the bank in order for them to surrender it for capital gain. Tavo says to Nomi, “since I got to feed in most of the tickets, you can push the button and make the withdrawal”. He was now

making more of an effort to include her equally in the business and delegate certain tasks accordingly.

They both go into a long a intensive ritual of choosing how they are going to spend their earnings. Each one gets a total of 116 tickets each to spend as they please. Chuck e cheeze has all items organized in order of “price”. The shelves and boxes

are color coordinated and very well presented. Very similar to how any retail store would present their items to the consumer… to be eye catching and appealing to that population. Tavo makes many choices. Buying a lot of little

inexpensive items so he can share with his Father, the original investor. Nomi chooses a few large and expensive items, wanting to share with her Mother as well. Typical of the successful business person in America who has a strong

connection with their family. Once they have a little extra to share, they do so very generously.

They both return back to their Father, the original investor, to show the return on his investment . They both show their favorite toy bought with their winnings. Tavo, displays a two toned blue mouse head rocket launcher. With a strong punch

the head of the mouse flies off across the room. Nomi presents a pair of pink and white jeweled clip on earrings. Very sparkly and effeminate. They have both chosen items, very stereotypical of their gender roles in America. The boy as being very aggressive and even war like in nature. The female as being more demure and very delicate in nature. Their Father is

very pleased with a job well done… Tavo and Nomi will grow into very successful young American Capitalists one day.