Stupid Guest Tricks

So yesterday, I got to the park a bit early and decided to go have lunch at one of my favorite places in the whole park "Caseys'" :love2: As I am sitting at a table eating my hot dog and fries, The Dream Come True Parade started, and of course people suddenly decide that they need to stop in front of the crossing and you could hear the CM trying to get people to move. From the table next to me, I over heard two girls talking. One of them said to the other, "I guess if you work here long enough you get over the extream stupitidy you see every day."
That got me thinking, Is it true? Do we sometimes become hardened by what we see everyday? Does it affect us in other areas?

Wow, that is an interesting thought. I overhead a conversation the other day, but it was about some Alaska special on the Travel Channel.

I think that with experience and time, I am able to come up with "canned answers" to the typical questions and complaints, so they don't stress me out as much as they might have in the beginning. As time goes on there are less and less surprises. But at the end of the day I'm able to forget things and start fresh the next day.

In other areas of life, I find myself noticing rule infractions and stupid guests without thinking about it. I think it bothers me I can't do anything about them.
Nick

If you're like me (heaven forbid) you just become jaded,don't care anymore,or surprised. :(

Driver_dylan wrote:That got me thinking, Is it true? Do we sometimes become hardened by what we see everyday? Does it affect us in other areas?

Lord, I hope not!

It was worse when I worked in Attractions, as stupidity could lead to dismemberment or death. Now that I'm in Hotels, the worst common result is not getting the reservations you wanted. ("What do you mean, Chef Mickey's is very popular?")

So far, I've been able to laugh at the stupid guest tricks -- though never in the presence of a guest! (And much thanks to all of you in this forum for helping me remember that.) When it stops being a source of comedy, I'll likely stop being a cast member.

I know some CMs who react to stupidity with anger. I know this is a bad approach, because each and every one of them ends up exploding at a guest -- often on what turns out to be their last day.

This last is part of the process of selecting just the right people to be cast members. Those who can't hack stupidity don't last very long. (And that applies to both guests *and* management!)

So yeah, I worry about getting hardened to stupidity. OTOH, I think Disney has helped me understand the depths of stupidity with which I'm *always* surrounded, and it has given me the tools to deal with it graciously (when I'm on duty or when I feel like it off-duty). If I start to react to posts here with a, "So what?" then I'll know that the hardening has begun.

So far, no signs of that!

Driver_dylan wrote: That got me thinking, Is it true? Do we sometimes become hardened by what we see everyday? Does it affect us in other areas?

I don't think we necessarily get hardened to it, but I know I'm more aware of stupid acts wherever I am. For example, just last night my husband and I are at the drive-thru for McDonald's. My husband is driving so he's closest to the window. The lady working there, as we pull up, says sarcastically to a co-worker, 'does a combo come with fries?' So my husband asks her, did you just get asked that? She replies with a yes. Now most people, probably wouldn't have even noticed what she had said, or that the tone probably meant it was just one in a long serious of stupid questions she had been asked. I mean, I could see asking at some random restaurant cause maybe they don't even have fries, but at a McDonald's? They make most of their money off their fries, of course a combo come with fries.

Driver_dylan wrote:So yesterday, I got to the park a bit early and decided to go have lunch at one of my favorite places in the whole park "Caseys'" :love2: As I am sitting at a table eating my hot dog and fries, The Dream Come True Parade started, and of course people suddenly decide that they need to stop in front of the crossing and you could hear the CM trying to get people to move. From the table next to me, I over heard two girls talking. One of them said to the other, "I guess if you work here long enough you get over the extream stupitidy you see every day."
That got me thinking, Is it true? Do we sometimes become hardened by what we see everyday? Does it affect us in other areas?

Well, in merchandise stupidity was not too bad, as it basically was only stupid questions. However, in entertainment you have to be more careful as it involves someone else besides you (the characters). So I guess I just become more aware to the stupidity.

All you can do is laugh and hope for the best. It is global and my experiences in the park are seen everywhere. I try not to let it get to me and laugh it off. As a guest I have helped people who ask stupid things and it hurts their feeling when you insult them for doing stupid things.

The parks are very stressful at time and can short circuit a person's brain. You have to plan for the trip then get to a park and have to deal with things like buying tickets, where to go, walking miles, weather, crowds, lines, and the overwhelming amount of sights, sounds and smells.

I have told this story before. A lady was so engrossed with a ride that she videotaped the ride, got off the ride and exited the ride but she never comforted her scared daughter, left the daughter on the ride, and then kept walking while the kid got her finger pinched in a turnstile. She was so overwhelmed that she forgot her safety and her child's welfare.

Some stuff you never get used to like people who risk their lives or the lives of their kids. Been going to public parks for about 49 years.

On the vein of "Does fries come with that," I get very annoyed by a particular Stupid Employee Trick. I always say my order and end it with, "And that's all I want," or "That is everyone." Inevitably they ask if I want fries (or something else). Yes, I know they are trained to say that, but show that you are actually LISTENING to the customer and have a bit of respect for their intelligence. I always have to bite my tongue to not snap back, "I SAID that is all I want. Were you listening?"

Driver_dylan wrote:One of them said to the other, "I guess if you work here long enough you get over the extream stupitidy you see every day."
That got me thinking, Is it true? Do we sometimes become hardened by what we see everyday? Does it affect us in other areas?

Getting over the "stupidity" is one thing. Learning how to cope with it and getting use to it is another thing. I'll admit I've lost sleep before my shifts on occassions, planning for the worse as Donald Trump advised on a TV show (don't know which one).

If anyone has read my previous postings, I'm at the point where I'm not such a Mr. Nice Guy anymore. If necessary, I'm firm with the guests and don't tolerate any kind of crap from them. I'm not going to speak their language so that they can trick me and speak English again. I'm not going to let their child who is under 40 inches ride the ride because "it's their birthday" or "We'll hold him." (every damn inch counts damn it!). I'm not going to pretend a question is stupid anymore when I know for a fact that it is ("Is this a ride?" "Do you know what this ride does?" "What's a child swap?" "Is this ride scary?" "Will she/he like it?"). How the heck am I suppose to know what she/he likes or what they define as scary? I will warn guests to never lay a finger on me without my permission or I will call security. Is it just me or are some guests so touchy with CMs? Why do they like to touch CMs? It's strange and inappropriate.

It's a proven fact: Some guests leave their brains and courtesy at home. :(

Touching is not just CMs. I have had people touch me and it is their way of doing things. Nothing like a wap on the back, eyes closed and curse words bubbling forth as tears fall from the pain. I had a hispanic older man stand behind me talking while rubbing my back. Some people are touchy feely and do not realize that other people are not into touching.