Toys R Us - growing up as a poor kid in San Francisco, Toys R Us was just as big as Disneyland or Great America.
When we grew up... we only had 1 Toys R Us in our vicinity, and that was Serramonte. But Serramonte wasn't a place you can walk to or ride the MUNI to. You had to take a special bus - which looking back, is SamTrans. Bus 7F. It was... a very long ways away...
I hated taking that bus. We had to take the city bus all the way down to the terminal by downtown. And the bus terminal was dirty and stinky. Lots of bums. Very creepy.
Then there was the bus schedule. I was a small chinese kid that can't read. And I relied on mom to know when we can take the bus. Looking back, I wonder if she really knew what she was reading. This scared the be-jezuz out of me... because I was always afraid we'll miss the last bus coming home. And if we miss it... we're stranded in Serramonte. A very long ways away.....
So we'd go to Toys R Us. Maybe once a year, because it was so hard to get to. But each time, it was special. Each time... we'd be able to buy ONE toy. And it was the best toy. It was the best toy because I can get one in a store that's nothing BUT toys. It's unlike the Walgreens or Woolworth, where they also have toys. But only in 1 aisle of the entire store.
I have a lot of memories of Toys R Us.
That memory of dad buying us the ET Speak and Spell.... only to realize when we got home... it was just the cartridge to go into the real thing.
Or the memory when 佩碧姨 took us there, the day mom and dad had to cram for the citizenship test. And big bro ended up getting Magneto for Secret Wars and I got Prince Adam from He-Man.
Or the time dad went there to get us our first Nintendo... and two games... one each. Double Dragon and Contra.
So many tiny bits and pieces.... but out of all the special memories of Toys R Us, there's one that stands out among the rest.
I must've been in 1st or 2nd grade. And this one time, for whatever reason, big bro and I found a shopping cart and we took turns riding in it while the other person pushed it and raced it down the aisle. Where was mom?? Who knows. Nowdays... you would never, ever catch kids running around in a giant store by themselves. Times were different.
Up and down the aisle. Two reckless kids were having the time of their lives. We got faster...and faster. And now, it was my turn to push. I wanted this to be the fastest of all the runs. So I pushed harder than ever. Ran faster than ever. Made noises louder than ever. After about 5 steps, 10 steps, 20 steps... we were blazing down the aisle. Then it happened.... I lost control of the cart. We started drifting. We started fish tailing. I couldn't stop!! And then.... BANG!!!! We crashed!!!
We crashed into the glass windows that held all the game consoles. I crashed so hard... I couldn't stop my momentum and my mouth bashed right onto the handle bar.
BOOM!!!! It was loud. The world stood still. For some reason... everybody who needed to be there, was there.
A security said, "Hey, where's your mom?!"
I turned, and amazing, there was mom, standing there shopping. She was shopping for a Care Bear clock, which for some odd reason, 30 years later, we still have. I got scared. I simply said, "媽" and I started running away from the crime scene.
It was a blur. I ditched my big bro who was supposedly still in the shopping cart. I walked up and down the aisle - wiggling the tooth that got bashed into. (lost that tooth that very night). The way I remember it, we didn't break anything. But I once heard big bro said we broke the glass case.
I never got into trouble for that act... nor do I remember ever talking about it since the night it occurred.
Funny how some things just sticks with you...for the rest of your life.
"I don't wanna grow up. I'm a Toys R Us kid...." the 80's commericial jingle still rings in my ears, as I solemnly cast my flower into the grave and bid my good friend... adieu. May you Rest in Peace.
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