Easter Egg Hunt Turns Ugly in Orange

I've said for a long time that there is no kids' activity that parents haven't found a way to screw up. It happened again Saturday as things got out of control at the PEZ Company's annual Easter Egg Hunt in Orange.

According to the Courant, a larger than expected crowd showed up for the egg hunt and overwhelmed the event staff. PEZ employees had hidden eggs in three different fields with staggered start times and different age groups. However, parents ignored any systems that had been set up and sent their kids in early, which quickly turned into a melee.

Stories from the Courant and NBC Connecticut referenced parents shoving children to the ground to give their own kids an advantage. Several parents said that their children left in tears with no candy, and parents also claimed that their children suffered bloody noses and other injuries.

PEZ's Facebook page was deluged with complaints. Very few people blamed PEZ for the chaos; most condemned the parents for their boorish behavior. In a statement, PEZ said that they "would like to sincerely apologize to each of our guests, this was not something created to frustrate or make people angry. We only wanted to do good for the local community."

Unfortunately this should not come as a surprise to anyone who has attended a kids' activity. From Easter Egg Hunts to awful parent behavior at youth sports to drunken brawls at Chuck E. Cheese birthday parties, there are people that lose all sense of perspective when it comes to their kids. I think that most of these events would run better if they were "kids only" and parents were not allowed in.