Marissa McLaughlin ENGL 1102 8 November 2013

Observation One Wednesday September 4, 2013 Time 4:30p 5:30p Description Monkey Joes is a large indoor playground located in a strip mall on University Blvd. in Charlotte North Carolina. When you walk into the facility, there is a large open space filled with inflatables for the children to play on. Off to the left of the front door there is a counter where each visitor must check in, pay, and receive their wristband before they are allowed to go any further. At this check in counter, you are also able to purchase snacks and redeem any tickets that you have won at any of the arcade games. Once you pass the front counter, there is a wall of cubbies and two inflatables that are specifically for children under the age of 3. There is also a parent lounge with office chairs, a television and two computers. As you walk towards the back of the store, there are five more inflatables featuring various cartoon characters including Madagascar, Cars, Batman, and an original Monkey Joe inflatable. To the left of the inflatables there are three party rooms; red, blue, and green. These rooms are designated for birthday parties and have picnic tables for the children, chairs around the picnic tables for the adults, and a special blow up chair for the birthday child. In Monkey Joes there can be a high level of activity and slight chaos due to children running around and screaming.

Figure 1: These are the batman, Madagascar, and orginal Monkey Joe inflatables.

Figure 2: This is Monkey Joes front counter and concession stand.

Figure 3: The red Party Room Rules and Conventions: The discourse community that I plan to observe is Monkey Joes which is where I work. The main purpose of this figured world is to offer a safe environment for children to play while their parents relax. In order to be allowed into Monkey Joes each adult must be with a group that consists of at least one child. There are several families, baby sitters, and nannies that bring children to Monkey Joes to play. During the summer months, summer camps on kids on field trips are also frequent visitors. This figured world can get extremely loud and can have multiple activities going on at once. In Monkey Joes there is the general play area, but there are also three rooms designated for birthday parties. When there are birthday parties taking place in the party rooms, there are also other families who are not with the parties playing in the play area. While Monkey Joes is an environment where individuals are expected to enjoy themselves and have fun, there are also a set of rules and regulations that each child is expected to follow. Do to safety concerns there is no running, screaming, jumping off of inflatables, or rough play allowed. When a child gets out of control, it is the responsibility of the employees to get the childs attention and give them a warning. If the child continues to disobey the rules, they are put into time out and are reminded of what is not allowed. Some discourse communities that I observed include the adults that gather in the lounge, the employees working in the concession stand, the party pros, the referees, and the stay at home moms.

Literacy Practices In the Monkey Joes environment the staff speaks in a manner that is kid friendly while also maintaining professionalism while speaking to the parents. This communication is important because as an employee you want the children to want to come back and the parents to want to bring them back. Actors: Actors play a significant role in the figured world. They contribute to the overall function and organization of the location. Shannelle T : Shannelle is Monkey Joes General Manager and controls all of the functions of the store. Shannelle keeps an open line of communication between her and the employees, but maintains her level of authority. Arlae M : Arlae is one of the store managers and takes her position very seriously. She is a hard worker and through her dedication to the job, she was able to make her way from a Monkey Joe referee to a store manager. Adam P: Adam is the head referee and is responsible for making sure that the playroom floor is running smoothly. He makes sure that Monkey Joes makes an appearance every hour and that the referees stay in the designated zones. He is currently trying to earn a promotion to manager so he takes his job very seriously, but does belittle the people that work under him. Kayannah L: Kayannah is both a Monkey Joe referee and party pro. As a referee, her responsibility is watch over the children playing and to ensure that they are following all of the rules. When she is working as a party pro, she is expected to take care of all of the tasks needed for a successful birthday.

Artifacts: Artifacts are items that are present within a figured world that play a significant role to the individuals present in the figured world. Monkey Joe: Monkey Joe is the stores mascot. Monkey Joes is a purple monkey with green shorts, yellow shirt, red shoes, and a purple monkey helmet/face. He comes out once every hour and walks around the store taking pictures, giving hugs, and shaking hands. Monkey Joe is not allowed to speak so in order to communicate with the children he shakes his head for yes and no, and gives thumbs up. Children often ask Monkey Joes questions so non-verbal communication is very important. Monkey Joe is considered the face of the store and is expected to be friendly because several children want to come to Monkey Joes just so they can talk and hug Monkey Joe

Figure 4: This is the Monkey Joe Mascot

Monkey Joes house: In the back of the store there is a storage room that serves as the changing room for Monkey Joe. The employees and other adults realize that this room is where the costume is stored, but to the children this is where Monkey Joe lives and where he comes from when he is ready to play. Inflatables: The inflatables are the bouncy houses that the children come to jump on. Inflatables are filled with air and children come in to jump and play on them. Monkey Joes has seven inflatables each with a different theme. They give Monkey Joes its purpose and without them, Monkey Joes would not be considered an indoor playground. Arcade Games: The arcade games offer a secondary form of entertainment for the Monkey Joes guest. Unlike the inflatables, adults are allowed to play on all of the arcade games. This helps keep the parents and other adults occupied while their children play. Ticket Redemption Center: The ticket redemption center is where all of the tickets won from the arcade games are accounted for and redeemed for prizes. At the redemption center there is a clear case with shelves which can be viewed from the front side of the counter and contains small ticket items including candy, sunglasses, and playing cards. There is also a wall behind the redemption counter that holds all of the larger ticket items including large stuffed animals, play guitars, and small disco balls. The items that are available for ticket redemption vary depending on the time of year.

Discourse Communities: Discourse communities are groups of individuals who have the same purpose within a figured world. Referees: Referees carry a lot of the responsibility within the Monkey Joes facility. They are responsible for keeping the play floor under control, and keeping children from getting hurt. Each referee is given an area that they are responsible for and must blow their whistle at any child that they see breaking the rules. They are also responsible for cleaning up after children if they become sick while anywhere in Monkey Joes. Each referee wears a black and white striped shirt so that they are easily identified. Party Pros: Party pros are responsible for taking care of all of the tasks that are required for a successful birthday party. Their main objective is to lighten the load on the party mom so that they are able to enjoy their childs birthday without worryin g about the general party tasks. The party pros daily tasks include setting up the party room prior to the party time, making the birthday announcements, serving pizza, cake, and ice cream, and cleaning the party room thoroughly after each party. Due to the high level of parties on Saturdays, party pros often work from open to close with back to back parties all day. Concession Stand workers: Concession stand workers are responsible for taking care of all of the stores cash transactions, including the entrance admissions and food purchases. The concession stand workers often become overwhelmed because there is rarely any order due to guests usually just walking up to the counter without forming a line. Stay at home moms: The stay at home moms are the main guests that visit the store during the work week. They usually have children who have not yet started school and come in groups for play dates .Several of our regular guests are stay at home moms.

Map of Monkey Joes

Storage Room

Monkey Joe Inflatable

Green Party Room

Batman Inflatable

Blue Party
Room

Red Party
Room

Rescue Heros Inflatable

Madagascar Inflatable

Arcade Games Animal Land Inflatable

Redemption Center

Monkey Joe Obstacle Course Inflatable

Concession Stand/ Check-In

Birthday Party Check-In

Parent Lounge

Front Door

The Observation: 4:30 PM -There are very few guests in the store due to the time of the day. Since most parents and children are still at work and school, there are only a few stay at home moms and their small children playing. While the store traffic is slow, Adam begins to hand wash the Madagascar inflatable. He is using a bucket full of soap and water and a small towel. Since this task is done in the middle of the day while there are still guest, this inflatable is temporarily closed and has a yellow closed sign in front of it. Some children still try to play on it because they are not able to read and do not realize that the sign says closed. 4:45 PM -Adam is finishing up his task, and has begun to fill the inflatable back with air. The few guests that were in the store have begun to get ready to leave for the day. The floor is now clear of guests and the employees who were responsible for refereeing this area retreat to the office to chat and drink water for the brief break in the day. 4:55 PM -5 more groups have come into Monkey Joes. Each group consists of at least 3 children and 2 adults. When these people entered the facility, the children immediately ran to take off their shoes so that they could go play as soon as possible. One child is so excited that she ran directly inside of the Cars inflatable and her father had to go after her so that she could take off her shoes and receive her wristband from the check in counter. 5:10 PM -One child received a warning from one of the referees because he was running around the store. When the referee blew the whistle the child looked startled and confused and immediately stopped running. 5:14 PM -The child that received a warning for running continued to run and was told to sit in time-out.

5:25 PM -There are now several new guests that have come to play. There are several adults in the parent lounge watching television and using the computers. There are also a few adults that have

pulled out their laptops on the picnic tables and are working on school work and other work that they need to complete. 5:30 PM -The store now has a more steady flow of visitors. This quick change in traffic flow is a result of the time and the fact that admissions are half off on Wednesdays.

Observation Two Saturday September 7, 2013 Time: 5:00p-6:15 5:00 PM -The facility is filled with walk-in guests as well as individuals with birthday parties. There are several adults wearing UNCC appeal which shows that the high level activity is partially due to the football game that has just recently ended. One birthday announcement has just been made and that group has moved from the general play area, to the blue party room. 5:10 PM -More walk-in guests have arrived as well as guests with the birthday parties. Monkey Joes has also made an appearance and is going into the blue party room as well as taking pictures with other guests. When he first walked out of the storage room, a group of children ran and jumped on him, so one of the employees had to pull these children aside and tell them to be nice to Monkey Joe. 5:25 PM -Another birthday party has been called back to the party room. This party is a little different than the rest because they have brought their own clown and face painter. After the children ate the pizza, cake, and ice cream; a clown came into the room and started to preform tricks and gave out balloon animals. 5:33 PM -A child has fallen off of one of the inflatables and has gotten a bloody nose. One of the referees located the childs parents and informed Shannelle of the accident. Shannelle spoke to the childs parents and apologized on behalf of Monkey Joes and gave the child an icepack and a free ICEE.

5:45 PM -The last party for the hour has been called back into the party room. This party only consists of 8 children which is a relatively small party. At the moment there are 3 parties back in the rooms which offer a break for the main playroom floor. 6:05 PM -Two of the three parties have ended and have left the party rooms and are back playing in the general play area. Since these parties have ended the floor is back to being chaotic.

Observation Three Sunday September 8, 2013 Time 12:00p -1:00p 12:00 PM -Monkey Joes has just opened and there are no guests in the facility. Everything is clean and Kayannah has set up the party rooms for later in the day. 12:30 PM -There are a few walk-ins that have checked in and begun to play. The children that are currently playing are younger kids which helps keep the noise level low. They are calmly bouncing on the inflatables made for small children and are lightly laughing and playing with each other. 12:38 -The first party of the day has arrived. This party consists of 24 kids which is the largest party package that Monkey Joes offers. As the kids for the party start to arrive, the noise level slowly starts to increase. 12:45 -More families have checked in and the noise level is high. There are children jumping on all of the inflatables. These children are yelling and are wildly jumping on the inflatables. There is also a small girl crying looking for her parents. Due to the high level of activity, Arlae walks the playroom floor to help the referees.

1:00 PM -Monkey Joe has made his first appearance of the day. As he is walking around there is a group of children following him and trying to take off his helmet. There is also a mother trying to take her sons picture with Monkey Joe, but the other children are in the way and will not move.

Interview September 8, 2013 *This interview is conducted with a frequent Monkey Joes guest

1.) Explain how you decide when to bring your child to Monkey Joes. Does it depend on their good behavior, or is it usually a prescheduled visit. Monkey Joes is in a very convenient location. We live in Harrisburg and with Monkey Joes being right down the street, we are able to stop by any day Giavana wants to have a play date or just on a rainy day. 2.) What are some improvements that you would like to see within the Monkey Joes facility? The facility is very clean, I just think that they should have more employees looking after the children because I have a 6 year old daughter and a lot of the older children push her around and there is no one to keep this from happening. 3.) Do you feel that Monkey Joes offers a safe and clean environment for your child to play? Why? Monkey Joes is a clean facility. I have actually come in during the week and seen employees hand cleaning the jumps which I find impressive 4.) What makes you choose Monkey Joes over other indoor playgrounds? I choose Monkey Joes over places like Chucky Cheese because of the location. The prices here are little high but the kids love it so I think that it is worth the price. I also like the different special that they have during the week 5.) Describe your most memorable visit to Monkey Joes. What made this visit exceptional?

Our first visit to Monkey Joes was for Giavanas 4th birthday. This was an amazing day because she was able to enjoy all of the jumps and Monkey Joe came into the room and gave her a hug. It was just a great day for her. Personal Experience I have worked at Monkey Joes as both a party pro and referee for three years and overall I have enjoyed the time that I have spent there. Prior to working at Monkey Joes I had visited for a birthday party which I enjoyed. The staff was very friendly and occasionally made sure that everything was going smoothly. I also liked how there were televisions in the store so that you could catch up on the news while the children played. By being an actor at Monkey Joes, I was able to have a better understanding of the figured world during my observations. When I observed a child getting injured during observation two, I already knew the protocol that the employees were going to going to follow, so I was able to have a better understanding of the roles that the actors played in the community. By working as a Monkey Joe employee, I have learned how much work goes into creating a successful play environment and how important customer service is to the actors in Monkey Joes.