Chapter 8: time in review

I love my job. Always have. I love my job back home at the library, I love it down here and every other little thing in between. But you know what makes a job amazing? People. People make or break a job, and here at Disney it's no different. Not just cast members but guests too. The people I work with, I wanna be friends with forever.  I have met so many people being down here that I never would have back home, and for that I am amazingly grateful. Especially being at Epcot where I get to work around World Showcase and meet transplants from everywhere. I love that part of my job I'm sort of a world traveler, every day I get to do a different country (actually it's usually two). My top three favorite assignments are UK/International Gateway, Mexico/Norway, and China/African Outpost. Each one has amazing people (not to say that the other ones don't) and a lot of variety (in a good way) so I never know exactly what I'm gonna get.  The most interesting things happen to me on the job, I have had my picture taken several times.
     Last night this group of young guys approached myself and two other custodial guys and asked if we would take a picture. I assumed he meant of them so I reached for the camera, but the custodial guys I was with were already arranging us into their group.
        Some of the people that are guests are amazing too and in "the real world" I would have never been able to talk to them because it's considered weird to just start talking to people. I'm so lucky to have met some amazing people and to have had some amazing conversations with them. I get to interact with small children and ask them how awesome their day is, and their parents think it's the cutest thing. The second I'm no longer in costume that all changes. Most guests don't really notice other people that they perceive to be guests. I can no longer say, "Happy birthday princess!" to a little girl in a Jasmine outfit wearing a birthday button. I can no longer be freakishly cheesy and bow to them or apologize because Rapunzel was taking an extremely long time to brush her hair back stage.
    The other day I was opening the Odyssey Center when a little girl walked by me in her Princess Jasmine outfit on her way to the Norway Princess Breakfast and I said "Good morning Princess!" She stopped and whirled around looking for whoever I must be talking to, before realizing I was speaking to her. I talked to her for a few minutes. She told me it was her birthday but the button took away from her outfit so she had it on the coat which she refused to wear. I told her that she was starting off her day right and if she saw Snow White at the breakfast to say hi for me (because Snow White is a close personal friend of mine who had started out her happily ever after with a small cleaning career ("Whistle While You Work")). The little girl said she would and began to walk away. I looked after her for a moment and got back to my sweeping, but when I looked up again she was looking back at me and tugging on her mother's hand. Her mother let her run back to me quickly so I knelt down to see what was up. She told me that she couldn't tell Snow White "hi" for me because she didn't know my name. I told her my name was Jillian and asked hers in return. I told her that Snow White and I would have a conversation later about the little girl special enough to care about a custodial girl's name.
One thing I have realized working here is how sheltered Walt Disney World is, people feel safe here. They leave their strollers parked outside of restaurants brimming with personal belongings, they will let their kids speak to strangers (like me), and they just do things they probably wouldn't in New York City. I could not say "Happy birthday Princess" to some little girl on the street, her mom or dad would think I was a creep.  But here it's just part of the magic,something that makes the Disney World go round.


I would like to dedicate this blog entry to my grandfather, Walter Eben Lynch, whose 83rd birthday would have been today. I love you Papa, and I miss you so much, especially being down here because I wanna call you every day and tell you all about my adventures. I guess this is as close as I'm going to get.