Driver_dylan wrote:So I got to wondering, we always talk about the times that we see guests who are able to get the best of us, but what about the times when guests get exactly what they deserve?
I'm sure I've told this one here before, but for those with memory loss due to being subjected to loud Brazilians....
When the Magic Kingdom has fireworks at closing, the WDW Railroad closes about an hour earlier so we can give the last guests a round trip, then get back into the roundhouse before things start. (Both the main track and the line to the roundhouse run right through the fallout area.)
I was closing Toontown station one such quiet night, just waiting for my walk time at about 10:30. The fireworks were over, so the last train had left about an hour and a half earlier. As usual, I had to give the sad news to a few guests that had walked all the way back to Toontown in hopes of avoiding the crowd on Main Street that they had just increased their walk, but most took it well.
I was getting that same spiel ready again as a family approached the closed station, but before I could say a word, the man shouted,
"Get these $&#**& ropes out of my way!"
Well, since he put it that way, I figured, why not? I opened the ropes and let his family into the beginning of the queue.
"Now get this #$&%* rope out of my way!" No, being let into a closed station wasn't good enough, he also wanted to avoid that long, nasty 10-foot walk around the end of the ropes. Again I figured, why not?
They wandered over to the turnstiles, but were apparently unclear on that concept as well.
"Hey! Where the #$*& do people wait for the train?"
By now I was on a roll.
"They generally go through the turnstile and down to the far end."
That actually got me a curt,
"Thanks." Aha! My kindness was beginning to melt down his harsh attitude and vocabulary.
"Hey asshole! When's the next damn train?" he shouted.
I consulted my pocket watch carefully, noting that the time was 10:38 p.m.
"The next train scheduled to pick up here is due at 0913," I replied, pronouncing it as military time,
"Oh Nine Thirteen" so there could be no doubt.
"Good!ยจ he snorted, and herded his family down to the end of the station to wait for it.
Now considering it would be over eight hours before the next train arrived, I didn't think this was a particularly unsafe situation. On the other hand, I was supposed to remain on duty in Toontown until the last guest departed. While I could use the overtime....
About then Security wandered by and asked what was going on. I told him, using the guest's own unexpurgated vocabulary. I then suggested that under the circumstances, I thought it might be appropriate to let the guest wait for the next train as he wanted.
The Security guard, a veteran of wars far more important, caught my sly grin and agreed that this was exactly what the family deserved. He also said that he'd take responsibility for them, and that I should go clock out, which I promptly did.
Word has it that the family was still waiting there and hour and a half later when Security got pulled away for some minor crisis elsewhere, and what with rotations he never knew how much longer they waited.
But they richly deserved every last minute of it! :twisted: