Build a Bear weirds

[Mana Minori]

I honestly don't know what to call it. I have always seen people at Build a Bear having to do that weird chicken dance when they pick out a heart for their stuffed plushies...rubbing it in your hands, patting it, rubbing it on the thigh, chest, wishing on it, etc.  Before it goes into the plush. It's....weird. I went in the store to purchase something for the first time, and as an adult, it just felt...weird, silly, and completely uneccesary.  I'm a huge kid at heart, but...this weird thing the employees ask even the adults to do...why?

Can't I just go in and get a plush pony without rubbing a piece of cloth all over my body for no apparent reason?

How do others feel about this process?

[Einhornbaby]

Ive heard about it too.
Well, I can only speak for the german shop I go to (Hannover, Germany) but they always ask you what you want to do and if you say "just stuffing" then they dont "bother" you with silly dances Well, once, when I was there to stuff my donisaur Cera, I had to do the dance stuff and it was... hilarious I guess We went to the whole thing including "What food will your plushi eat to get big and strong" and so on.  It was kinda cute but after that I politely said no to more dancing

I think it will be ok if you tell the staff you dont want to dance. If youre uncomfortable with it you should not be forced to!

[Ponyfan]

My city got a Build a Bear about a year ago. Before that I had ordered a few plushies online so I had never done the Heart Ceremony before. I agree that it's a little awkward for an adult do it. I've done it a couple of times but after the employee that's worked at the store since it opened got to know me she starting asking me if I wanted to skip the Heart Ceremony.



Ponyfan

[SaraMari]

I've only gone there once as an adult and the employee asked if I wanted to do that kinda stuff rather than making me do it

Oh and to answer your final question, I think generally I prefer not to because I'm usually quite self conscious. And I would rather get the thing stuffed quickly and out of the way of kids.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

My store asks if I want to do it. I think they do that to the older people who are buying for collections.  They've never made me do it.

[Firecracker]

I always loved doing the heart ceremony as a kid, but now as an adult I usually find that they'll ask me if I want to do it or not.  It really depends on what kind of mood I'm in whether or not I'll take them up on it!

You should be able to give them a polite no if you don't want to do it, it isn't a requirement to get your plush.

[zombienixon]

 I had to do the whole ceremony thing once. I don't remember having to do a dance, though. I do remember being glad there only two other people there. That was the only time I actually said it was for me.

From then on I just said it was for someone else.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Yeah you don't have to do the whole ceremony thing, you can just go in there and buy something like a normal person LOL 

Just politely decline and say, "I'll wait here while you stuff it" or something...

[Chrissytree]

I've only got one myself and they just asked me if I wanted to kiss the heart. I said "no."

[Strawberry Swirl]

Personally, I haven’t been to a BAB that made you do the whole heart thing, I just say “no thank you” when they ask. I’m sure if you’re polite you won’t be bugged to do it anyhow.

[poniesthatsparkle]

I haven't been in a while but I usually do get asked if I want to do the whole heart ceremony thing. Sometimes I agree to do it because sometimes it's fun to act like a little kid, but for the most part I either say no or they simply don't ask me.

[Tulips]

I've only kind of done the heart ceremony thing once, but it was just wishing on the heart or something. I don't like to do silly things in public, and I also don't like taking more time than needed when there are kids waiting. I don't recall the staff asking me so much if I wanted to do it, just encouraged me to let loose a little but didn't push. I'm not shy when it comes to talking about my collection so we usually chat more about what other plushies I have at home lol.

[Mewtwofan1]

You mean the sacred heart ritual? The one that if it doesn’t happen, your bear is doomed to an eternity of having a stone cold heart and bad fur days and will not love you because you didn’t put your love into making it? I see why other people don’t like it, but for me? I’ve kinda accepted it as a fact of the build a bear experience. I’ve been doing it since I was a little kid, so it has some fond memories.
     I’ve never been asked if I wanted to skip though. I didn’t know that was an option! Not that I’d take it, but golly, you learn something new every day. But I agree. If you don’t want to, you shouldn’t have to. It’s more of a thing for kids.

[Mana Minori]

I was never asked if I would've liked to skip it.  I was going to ask if I could, but by the time I got up there, I completely forgot, since there was a baby behind me that kept throwing his toy bear on the floor, and I was nice enough to pick it up three times, since it kept hitting me each time, and I was also distacted by the woman behind me instructing her mom on how to pick unstuffed anmals from the bins for her grandkid. Lotta distractions.

[Minty_Magic]

I'm always a little uncomfortable doing it, but if the employee initiates it I'm usually too shy to say no haha! I don't mind too much though, I'm a night owl so I'm usually there pretty close to closing and there aren't many people around. I do also have fond memories of it from when I went as a kid, so it doesn't bother me too much. I figure the employess probably get a kick out of watching adults do the silly ritual too lol! In my experience i get asked to do it almost every time unless I happen to strike up a good conversation about collecting with whoever is stuffing! I'm sure they wouldn't think twice about it if you declined though!