I'm Absolutely Aghast

I was supposed to meet up with some friends at Extreme Fun today to let the kids play. We've been there a couple of times and have had lots of fun without any problems.

We got there a little after it opened this morning. I'm standing in line when I hear the woman in front of me say, "Oh my God, there's a rat!" I started talking to her to find out what was going on, and she did indeed see a rat run from the eating area to the cashier station. The cashier even jumped out of the station so the owner could sweep at the rat with his broom.

All together now---Ewwwww! This is a children's play place where they climb all over the equipment, and now there's a rat loose.

The lady in front of me and her friend left, and I walked up to the cashier to find out what was going on.

Cashier (C): Hello, how many today?
Me: Is there a rat in here?
C: .......(nothing but a smile on her face)
Me: Is there a rat in here?
C: Some customer said she saw a rat.
Me: Is there a rat in here?
C: A rat came in when the owner opened the door this morning.
Me: So there's a rat in here. Have you called anyone to get the rat?
C: What?
Me: Have you called anyone to get the rat?
C, to the owner: They want to know if you're going to call someone about the rat.

The owner then begins speaking to the cashier in a foreign language. After about a minute, the cashier says that the owner is going to call someone. Then she asks if my kids want to play. I tell her that I'm not going to let my kids play where a rat is loose. I then motion to the other mom I know who is there (she had already paid before I got there) and told her what was going on. We decided to leave and call everyone to meet us at the new place. And during this time, the owner continued to clean tables. He wasn't looking for the rat and he wasn't on the phone.

To me, there are soooo many things wrong with this situation.
1. Owner knows a rat is loose and decides to open his business and let the kids play anyway.
2. When a customer sees the rat and says something, they still continue to let people in and let kids play.
3. They don't think about calling someone to catch the rat until a customer says something. And they still let the kids play!!!

I know I can be extremely overprotective at times, but come on, a rat loose in a children's play place?? This is common sense. Rats can carry diseases, they can bite, and they don't exactly clean up after themselves when they poop. Who wants their kids around that?

So what did I do? First, I got on the phone with some other moms to steer our group to a different place for the kids to play. Second, when I got home I called the health department. I don't like getting people in trouble, but this is serious. You know there's a rat loose in your facility and you're letting kids play anyway. That's just wrong.

I'm really bummed because this was a fun place to go and play with the girls. But I just can't go back there again. I keep thinking about what might be at the bottom of that foam pit.