One of my personal pieces of ‘internet catnip’ is any video of any child stuck in a claw machine.
And, yes, it happens more than you’d think.
This time we go to a mall in Mason, Illinois and get security footage of a small child seemingly wandering aimlessly until the bright, shining beacon of a claw machine calls to him.
Like any inquisitive child he wonders, if the toys come out of the door maybe I can just go through the same door and get the toys?
Honestly it’s not a bad plan in theory but normally in these situations the getting in is easy – getting out is the hard part.
What’s great about this footage is the elderly gentleman watching this whole scene transpire. I’m assuming he’s a local ‘mall walker’ out on his daily stroll when he sees flailing feet sticking out of the claw machine door. And just like that… the kid is stuck and he’s locked in because what else does he have going on – this is the best thing that’s gonna happen to him in a town of 300 people.
Now there’s a community effort underway to free the kid. They wheel the machine into a nearby store, try to locate the mother, and call the fire department who at this point have to have had special training on freeing children from claw machines.
It’s a good watch with a prize at the end but in this case the ‘prize’ is not a toy but sweet freedom and a hard lesson learned.
At least the kid/family will have the “remember the time you got trapped in a claw machine” story for the rest of their lives.
[YouTube: ABC 7 Chicago]
