May 29: Flyin' Solo

Yesterday was my first official day on the job! In the morning I got up early to go to Walmart because I had no groceries in the house, and got home long enought to change, grab something to eat during my supper break, and headed out the door again!

I got assigned to be around Splash Mountain, which was a slightly intimidating place to be on my first day. It went okay though! Thankfully pretty much all of the custodial cast members are super nice and helpful and went out of their way to make sure I was doing alright! The night went by pretty fast - even though it included cleaning up 2 code "V"'s - and splash closed early, so it was basically empty by 10:30. One of the things I appreciate about being in Frontier/Adventureland is that from 10pm when wishes starts until closing it pretty much clears out.

Everyone asks me if I like my job/how hard is it/is it disgusting/etc, and yeah, it is sometimes. It's not glamorous or exciting, but I do get to talk to people and have the freedom to strike up conversation without a time limit. Yesterday I had a couple of memorable moments, but there's one that has stuck with me throughout the day.

I was sweeping up and a lady in a wheelchair asked about the time of something or where the exit was or something like that. I answered her question and was about to walk away when she saw my nametag and said to her granddaughter that we had the same name! Of course, I took this as a moment to create a conversation and made a joke about all Sarah's being princesses (because 'Sarah' means princess) and noticed that she had an "I'm celebrating" button! I asked what she was celebrating and she told me the story of how she is now 7 weeks cancer free and they had come to disney to celebrate. To be honest, I teared up a little as she told me about how excited she was to be here and how good she felt now. I celebrated with her in that moment because I could. I was so excited for this woman who I had literally talked to for less than five minutes. I'm still celebrating 24hrs later.

That's the part of my job I love. I don't love cleaning up bodily fluids, I'm not a huge fan of cleaning toilets and changing garbages, but I love getting to meet people from literally all walks of life. I've met people that come to disney once a week, families that have been saving for years to make this once in a lifetime trip. I've seen friends, couples, honeymooners, retirees, and families all experiencing the magic of disney. The magic that lets them - even just for a little while - forget all of their troubles and worries and leave reality behind.

I've heard a lot about Walt Disney since I've been here, and I continue to learn more about his business models and how he created an empire so successful, and that was a core of his beliefs. To make a place where the whole family can come and escape for a while.

All of that rambling aside, I survived my first real shift. only approximately 60-80 more to go! :)