Okay, so I'm a longtime lurker... never posted before because, as a guest, I feel like I'm intruding on sacred space here. But for what it's worth, I'm not an AP, I'm not a SG, and I'm not an obsessed fanboy. I'm a WDW lover who also works in public service dealing with my own brand of SGs, and several of my good friends are CMs so we talk a lot about backstage and the reality of what really makes Disney what it is. :)
The cell phone thing really got to me. Last time I was at RnRC, there was a middle-aged male SG on his cell phone talking loudly throughout the preshow. Grrrr! The preshows are an important part of the magic for first-time guests, and this guy was yakking on so loudly that no one else could hear a word of the show.
He had a young girl with him who seemed thoroughly embarrassed. I just glared at him through the entire thing, but he turned his back to me and kept talking. To make it worse, the conversation seemed totally unimportant from what I could hear. I mean, come on. Even if you can't leave your work at home, the rest of us would like to have our vacations, thank you.
SGs who talk through announcements, spiels, CM instructions, and preshows are at the top of my hit list, whether it's on a cell phone or with other people in their party. CMs should be supplied with rolls of duct tape. :twisted:
I did want to respond to BirdMom's comment:
BirdMom wrote:The problem with the world today is that everyone is convinced that they *must* multitask and be in constant communication with the office, or others, therefore no one can focus on the little things like having uninterrupted funtime with their families. People who can't disconnect are pathetic.
I totally agree that our culture has convinced us all that we have to be in constant communication with work, and some of us have been fooled into thinking we have to be available 24/7. It's a lie, and we shouldn't let our jobs do that to us.
However, I do think we have to be respectful of the fact that there are certain circumstances where someone may need to be available in case of an emergency, even on vacation. It's not always work: there could be a situation involving a long-term family illness, for example, where one would need to be available in case the doctors called, and a situation like that might not be able to wait until the evening. I can even think of situations where someone may need to be "on call" for work for emergencies, though I agree that the vast majority of us should be able to go on vacation and be totally inaccessible for a week or two, and if we can't, we may have our priorities screwed up.
-p.b.
