What has happened to kids-meal toys? I went to Micky D's the other night because a friend and I were craving ice cream. By the time we got up to the screen to order my stomach was growling like a rabid Chihuahua, so I decided to get a Happy Meal as well, (all the other meals there have enough calories to sustain a small village). The girl of course asked "girl or boy?" Now for some reason, they just can't handle it if you say it doesn't matter, so I said "girl I guess," since I have some nieces. Well I finally got the box and ripped it open to get at the crunchy, golden fries, and there, laying on top, was a little colorful bag with a toy in it. I ripped open because....well, I like toys too. It was a plastic girl with cars for feet, which is just....weird. I had no idea what it was supposed to be, but my friend said it was from some movie coming out soon. It made me think - why do kids-meal toys today need so much social context to understand?I remember when they were awesome, when they were actually toys. Now, a ball requires little social context to understand - you just throw it at your little brother! I remember when we got toy cars, watches, balls, Frisbees, gooey things that stick to the wall, and all sorts of other cool stuff. My all-time favorite were the bendy-straw glasses I got at Dairy Queen once. They were made of a rigid tube formed to look like a pair of glasses with two soft bendy-straws on either end - one for your mouth and one for your drink. It was awesome! The only social context you need to understand with a toy like that are how to use glasses and straws. What happend to the good ol' days when a toy was just a toy?
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