Remote Workers Are Posting Up At Chuck E. Cheese, Which Definitely Is Not Weird At All

Some workers in Canada are trying to liven up their typically 9-to-5 grind by working remotely from their local Chuck E. Cheese.

This is totally normal behavior in this weird world of arrested development we are all forced to live.

Now, I work remotely and I get the allure of going down to the local coffee shop or bar to get a little work done (or pretending to), but let me assure you that this kind of thing is wildly overrated. You're dealing with all sorts of distractions and unreliable internet. 

To each their own, but I like to post up in my  ̶e̶x̶t̶r̶a̶-̶b̶e̶d̶r̶o̶o̶o̶m̶ office where I know the wi-fi will usually work, throw on a game, podcast, or some tunes and then start churning out some content magic for the good of humanity.

Let's set aside the fact that any adult who hits up a Chuck E. Cheese sans-kid should have all security cameras immediately focused on them, I don't see how you could be productive there. I mean, I haven't been to one since my youth, but I imagine it's hard to concentrate and hear your own thoughts above the din of air hockey click-clacking kid's screaming, and the musical stylings of an audio-animatronic band.

But hey, that's just me. Maybe I'm ill-informed and there's a good reason for this.

According to The New York Post, Aryeh Bookbinder is the 25-year-old tech and artificial intelligence worker behind this idea — dammit, we're already off to a bad start with this — said things were "definitely a little bit awkward" despite calling ahead to let the restaurant know that a bunch of adults were about to post up by the Skee-Ball machines and code all day.

"They were definitely not exactly sure what my intentions were, but they said, ‘Listen, as long as you’re not bothering anyone and as long as you’re a paying customer, you can try it out,'" Aryeh said.

Can you blame the restaurant for being a little perplexed by this? Normal adults avoid Chuck E. Cheese like the plague. I get nostalgia is a hell of a drug, but are people really this desperate to relive their childhoods? 

Also, why not go to Dave & Buster's? That's like adult Chuck E. Cheese.

Imagine trying to take a work call with the lifeless eyes — dead eyes, like a doll's eyes — of Chuck E. Cheese staring you down.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

How Long Until Employers Put Their Foot Down With This Kind Of Thing?

I think we may get to a point where employers are more strict about where you can work remotely from. All it's going to take is one person saying they forgot to put one of the new cover sheets on their TPS report because it was their turn to play Street Fighter, and you can kiss Chuck E. Cheese goodbye.

Nonetheless, there were 20 workers on there on a Monday last month, and one of them even said (or maybe claimed) that their day was productive.

Whatever works, I guess. Although, I do have to pull a direct quote from The Post's article because I never thought I'd encounter this sentence which highlights the absurdity of all of this:

"I did actually have a very, very productive day," said Lat, who was so dialed in at one point that she didn’t notice the Chuck E. Cheese mascot standing right behind her.

You know where there (usually) isn't a guy in a rat costume standing behind me while I try to work? At home.