The Little Pod

“Great indoor playground. Amazing service. Food is great, especially the ramen. Amazing!!! Highly Recommended!”

“Overall, my kiddo and I love the Little Pod. Lately a few popular games have been broken, but the slides are still amazing, and the bouncy house is always a hit.”

“I have been a loyal member of The Little Pod for two years. My daughter even had her birthday party there, and we typically visit once a week. Until today, I had mostly positive experiences. Unfortunately, my experience today with the manager, Lindsay, was extremely disturbing and felt like clear targeting and discrimination. There is technically a rule about outside food, but anyone who attends regularly knows that many families bring snacks and outside food for their kids and it is rarely enforced. Today was the one time I brought food because I had not eaten all day. Lindsay immediately approached me and told me I could not have it. I apologized and put it away without any issue. While I stepped away to use the restroom, Lindsay then approached my 12-year-old daughter directly while she was sitting with my 4-year-old and confronted her about a fruit cup. Addressing a child instead of the parent is completely inappropriate and unprofessional. What made the situation even more concerning was that there were several other families openly eating outside food at the same time. These families were white and Asian. Lindsay had absolutely no issue with them eating their food and did not address them at all until I pointed it out. Only after I called attention to it did she begin speaking to them. Her tone throughout the interaction was extremely condescending and demeaning. When I pointed out the other families eating outside food, she actually thanked me and said she “had not noticed them before.” How convenient that the only family she seemed to notice and immediately confront was the Black one. To make matters worse, she then told me she “didn’t mean to hurt my feelings.” Someone displaying racist and discriminatory behavior is not capable of hurting my feelings , but that kind of behavior absolutely creates a hostile and uncomfortable environment for families of color. When I asked Lindsay who her manager was so I could escalate the situation, she told me she did not have one, which is extremely unprofessional and hard to believe. This experience felt like racial targeting and discrimination in a place that is supposed to be welcoming to families and children. Lindsay clearly needs training on bias and racism in the workplace, because what happened today was unacceptable. I will absolutely be following up with upper management regarding this incident. No parent or child should ever feel singled out because of the color of their skin !”