I Have A Firey Hatred For Heelys

[LisaNJ25]

I had some knucklehead kid at work yesterday pushing a shopping cart while skating on them. Thats an accident waiting to happen.

my 7yo dd did get them for xmas.. but they are 2 small and I still have to exchange them. She is only using them on the side walk at home or a playground when I am with her.

 

[Pigeon]

I think they look like fun, but at my age, my knees would explode if I tried them. I don't have a problem with kids having them at all.

 

[Poohbear123]

My neighbor bought her 5 y/o son Heeleys for Christmas. She said as soon as he got them he wanted her to take him to the mall so he could use them. I told her that they were not allowed at the mall and probably not in any public area. She said she got them for that purpose. She ended up taking the little chit to the mall and the grocery store anyway. The grocery store stopped her but unfortunately he wasn't caught at the mall. What is wrong with these morons that let their kids use these things in public?

People do not CARE about other People and thier feelings, that is what is wrong with Morons! ALL they care about is themselves and thier "liitle Darlings."

 

[Tigger&Belle]

(hangs head in shame) I am a 45 yr old woman & I must say that they look like fun & I wish I had a pair. But if I did, I promise I would not wear them in a mall, a supermarket or at WDW. And if I had children & they had them, they would not use them in those places either.

We'll behave ourselves, right?

Missy, did you read my post on Beth's thread RE my DS and DH's comments about the Heelys?

 

[Mono~rail]

Add me to the Heelys hater list!

I've never been bumped into by anyone wearing them and neither have my kids. I see kids from time to time skating around the mall or other stores in them. If someone wearing them ever does run into me or my kids, I'll demand security and management come and fill out an incident report! You can bet your last dollar I will do it, too!

Anywhere that rollerskates, rollerblades, a skateboard, etc. wouldn't be allowed then Heelys aren't allowed either! Just because it is a roller skate cleverly disguised as a shoe does not make it OK!

 

[letterdavidman]

Today in the mall, I watched a girl about 10 years old, zooming around on them. I had to chuckle when she skated right into her little brother & then BAM!! She hit the floor & started crying.

I just shook my head at the mother.

BTW, the little brother was fine...it was just the girl that was crying like a baby.

I would have paid real money to witness that! And I wouldn't merely have chuckled, I'd have cackled. More than once.

And then, of course, the wife would have been good and pissed at me (though she hates heelys with a passion, too).

 

[Caropooh]

We'll behave ourselves, right?

Missy, did you read my post on Beth's thread RE my DS and DH's comments about the Heelys?

Can we make it a 3-some? I would love to have some! they look like so much fun!

 

[sha_lyn]

Laughing at someone for getting hurt, ramming a kid with your shopping cart

I don't remember anyone saying they would ram a kid with a shopping cart.
A poster witnessed some place a shopping cart between an out of control kid and a person with a walker. Would it have been better to let the kid hit the person with the walker?

You bet i kept placing my cart between me and the girl at BJ's while I was in line to check out. I was constantly walking from one side of my cart to the other to avoid being hit by her.

That was my thought too, these DISers who are seeing such recklessness must live in an area where Heelys are new to the community. We've had them around here for a couple of years, most of the kids are pros on them by now.

No they are not new to the area.
It's not like they aren't making them anymore. There are many kids just receiving them. Since Xmas was jsut a few weeks ago, I think that is why many of us are seeing more problems right now. IE the girl in BJ's told DD she just got them for Xmas.

Did your parents ever let you do things that bugged other people when you were a kid?

In one word... NO

I doubt DISers are making up getting run into. What would be the purpose? And if nobody saw out-of-control kids on heelies, or never got run into, where would this strong dislike come from?

ITA.... why would I have a strong dislike of heelys in public places if everyone was using them responsibly?
The funny thing is all my bad experiences have been with young girls. The worst being at a very crowded girlscout event. There was barely room to walk must less roll. Lines for booths were everywhere. If you were trying to make your way through you were constantly asking people to make room.

I am baffled by parents who let their kids wear Heelys at WDW. Not just because of the danger involved, but also because of the amount of walking that is involved at a Disney theme park. When the kids are not skating, it looks like they have to walk in an unnatural position to use the shoes. That can't be good for your muscles if you walk like that most of the day in a theme park. Comfortable shoes are # 1 priority for taking care of your feet at WDW

ITA... other than the very few kids I've seen pull the wheels out of their pockets once they were away from crowds. I just don't how it could be good for them to walk around in Heelys all day.


What really gets me is that people do not treat them as skates. You never see kids with safety gear on while wearing heelys

 

[cardaway]

Having read threads like this I watched for Heelys in the parks and didn't find as many as I expected. For the most part the kids I did see were using them during the times when crowds were low.

We did have one incident, a kid who decided to speed through and expected everybody to move for him. When he got hurt he had no one to blame but himself.

 

[KristinBelle]

I don't have a problem with them.

 

[U2_rocks!]

Like anything else, they are fine when used appropriately. However, many kids (and their parents!) don't seem to know what's "appropriate"! Like others have said, crowded public places are NOT appropriate for skates, therefore they should not be for heelys either. It would be Ok if the kids had the discipline to only have them in skate mode when it was truly safe to do so i.e. large open spaces, easy to stop before hitting someone etc. But I think what happens is that they don't know when to put away the wheels. I'm not sure why the parents of these kids aren't watching them more carefully and helping them judge when is the right time for skate mode vs sneaker mode! I know that one reason I wouldn't want my kids to wear those things near lots of other people is that I wouldn't want the responsibility of making sure they were being careful. And if I only plan to let them wear skates in places where it's safe and appropriate, then I'll just buy them skates! Part of the attraction of Heelys is that they can switch between sneakers and skates, meaning you don't have to carry skates around and keep changing footwear - but with that comes the responsibility of knowing when to switch between wheels and no wheels, and kids need their parents to help them develop that sense of judgement. Unfortunately I there are many parents who aren't doing enough in that regard. I commend those parents who are making sure their kids are using them properly!

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

while I agree that the problem isn't the Heelys, but the irresponsible parents and kids....the thing is, there are far too many iresponsible parents and kids. I am seeing more and more kids zooming through the mall and stores - it is totally inappropriate to be using them in these places at all.

I agree about just buying them skates!!!!

This summer as we entered a Smithsonian museum the entrance guard gave the boy ahead of us a stern warning that they were not to be used at all. Kinda sad the guards in these places have to scan the kids shoes and do so!

DD asked for a pair and I told her no. These should only be used in the appropriate place and circumstance. She would not use them enough under those circumstances - so there is no point. This is just going to have to be one of those life lessons for her I guess - you can't always have/ don't always need what "everyone else has".

 

[arminnie]

Just don't threaten to knock down any one wearing them.

Principle of physics - small object hits larger object (little kid running into big me), if one of us hits the floor it is much more likely to be the kid than me (even if no heelies are involved).

My self defense when kids, moms with strollers, etc are headed toward me in a random fashion (who knows which direction to move to in order to avoid them) is to stop and stand very still while braced against the onslaught. IF they hit me then it is them hitting me, not me running into them. Still not pleasant and to be avoided if possible, but as we all know it is not always possible to avoid some of these people.

 

[Lanshark]

Oh...That's what the little rollie shoes are called. I had no idea.

My son is 16 and wears a size 12 shoe. At that point I guess they're skateboards......

I've had a couple of students try to wear them to school. I told them I'd confiscate their shoes and they never did it again

 

[jsbjeb]

Both of my kids have them, friend's kids have them... and I have to say...I have never, EVER seen anyone being run into by kids on Heeleys!

 

[tinkerbell1967]

I must say, these things are quite the most annoying thing that I've encountered in a long while; perhaps more annoying than Push to Talk cell phones in public.

I went to the mall today with the family, and I saw people using them in the book store, around the food court and weaving though people walking down the halls. It seems like a large percentage of them are six year olds who have yet to master the use of these shoes and keep hitting into people and such. Anyone else share my disdain for these things?

I agree. I'm sure they will start to ban them in places. I don't mind them outside but not in malls, etc where there are so many people trying to get around.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Can we make it a 3-some? I would love to have some! they look like so much fun!

Damn straight! You'll have to read the Ladies Meet thread to see my DS and DH's reactions when I mentioned them. Of course you'll have to come to the Ladies only meet and Heely around with us. If I'm going to have a mid-life crisis, this is so much cheaper than a sports car!


ETA, maybe we should clarify the 3-some comment, however....

 

[Planogirl]

Hopefully, these things will be banned from indoor places and those bans will actually be enforced. There's no sense in allowing these in crowded indoor places unless skates, skateboards and bicycles are allowed too. Personally, I vote for bikes.

However, I see nothing wrong with them outdoors even in shopping venues.

 

[disneyfan67]

Add me to the list of the haters as well. It's not so much the kid who wears them , it's the parent I have a problem with. I get so tired of the clueless parents that seem to think that the world only revolves around their child. There's more to life than just you and your offspring and you should give a thought to the people around you. If the kids were to keep them at home and just use them around their neighborhood, I would have no problem. The sad fact about is that the damn things was designed and marketed to use in places they shouldn't be. When they first came out I had no idea what they were because they were disguised so well as a normal shoe. I predict within a couple of years the things will be banned in just about every place and the rules will be strictly enforced. All it takes is a couple of lawsuits to change a company's policy toward them.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I promise you all that if I get them, my mom will do what she can to control me... what she can, considering that she's 83yo and lives across the country. OK, I'll control myself...