A Reformed SG
Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 8:21 am
Having visited Disneyworld as a guest several times I would like to point out a few things and plead for understanding...
Firstly travelling from Europe when we arrive we are often extremely tired and stressed after a long journey and struggling with time differences. We fail to understand things that should be obvious and there are also some cultural differences that we may not appreciate at first. As an example of the latter the first time a bus driver raised his palm to me without any words (to indicate that I should not board the bus yet) I was pretty shocked. Where I come from this is really rude and is one step short of giving someone the finger. But Florida ins't where I come from and it took a day or two to adjust. Your country, your rules. Just a cultural difference.
Also on the first day arriving at the parks the entrance can be a bit overwheling. Bag checks, huge crowds, tickets, finger print scan. All straightforward and make good sense but having just arrived and had about 5 hours sleep in the last 48 hours sure I've got the wrong card, forget which finger I've scanned, join the wrong queue, etc.
What does all this excuse? It excuses us occasionally getting things wrong and behaving a bit retarded in the first couple of days. What it most certainly does not excuse is yelling at the cast members. I can't think of anything to excuse that. I've met the occasional grumpy cast member but most have been a real joy to spend time with. In fact if I think back to the things that I would regard as Disney highlights I would say pretty much all of them involve interactions with cast members at one level or another.
There are absolutely no excuses for people yelling, swearing at or insulting cast members. Nothing - not ever. I once caught myself starting to lose it with a till operator (I won't bore you with the details) and I had to breathe deeply and walk away. I didn't insult, yell or abuse her by the way but felt myself sliding in that direction. The point is that sometimes you aren't really aware of how badly you are behaving until you see someone else doing the same thing or read about it on forums like this. I saw someone yelling at a boat operator because they wouldn't allow them on the already full boat. Everyone just thought "what an idiot" but I realised that could have been me with the till operator had I not stepped back from the brink in time. There are absolutely no excuses for this. If I had behaved like that I would have been flat wrong. But most of us have done it at some point - especially when tired, crowded, stressed and in 100 degrees of heat that we aren't used to. Sometimes it takes seeing someone else behaving badly to realise how completly unnaceptable it is.
Reading these forums and seeing other guests yell at cast members was a real wake up call to me. I now realise the great work you do and for every grumpy cast member I have met I could list 20 who have really made my day. I truly hope you guys get treated with the respect you deserve. I promise I will never ever snap back at a cast member anywhere on Disney ever again.
Firstly travelling from Europe when we arrive we are often extremely tired and stressed after a long journey and struggling with time differences. We fail to understand things that should be obvious and there are also some cultural differences that we may not appreciate at first. As an example of the latter the first time a bus driver raised his palm to me without any words (to indicate that I should not board the bus yet) I was pretty shocked. Where I come from this is really rude and is one step short of giving someone the finger. But Florida ins't where I come from and it took a day or two to adjust. Your country, your rules. Just a cultural difference.
Also on the first day arriving at the parks the entrance can be a bit overwheling. Bag checks, huge crowds, tickets, finger print scan. All straightforward and make good sense but having just arrived and had about 5 hours sleep in the last 48 hours sure I've got the wrong card, forget which finger I've scanned, join the wrong queue, etc.
What does all this excuse? It excuses us occasionally getting things wrong and behaving a bit retarded in the first couple of days. What it most certainly does not excuse is yelling at the cast members. I can't think of anything to excuse that. I've met the occasional grumpy cast member but most have been a real joy to spend time with. In fact if I think back to the things that I would regard as Disney highlights I would say pretty much all of them involve interactions with cast members at one level or another.
There are absolutely no excuses for people yelling, swearing at or insulting cast members. Nothing - not ever. I once caught myself starting to lose it with a till operator (I won't bore you with the details) and I had to breathe deeply and walk away. I didn't insult, yell or abuse her by the way but felt myself sliding in that direction. The point is that sometimes you aren't really aware of how badly you are behaving until you see someone else doing the same thing or read about it on forums like this. I saw someone yelling at a boat operator because they wouldn't allow them on the already full boat. Everyone just thought "what an idiot" but I realised that could have been me with the till operator had I not stepped back from the brink in time. There are absolutely no excuses for this. If I had behaved like that I would have been flat wrong. But most of us have done it at some point - especially when tired, crowded, stressed and in 100 degrees of heat that we aren't used to. Sometimes it takes seeing someone else behaving badly to realise how completly unnaceptable it is.
Reading these forums and seeing other guests yell at cast members was a real wake up call to me. I now realise the great work you do and for every grumpy cast member I have met I could list 20 who have really made my day. I truly hope you guys get treated with the respect you deserve. I promise I will never ever snap back at a cast member anywhere on Disney ever again.
