Monday, October 28, 2013

On Finding Success

There are two kinds of people in this world.  Or maybe I should say there are two ways to react to things in this world.

First, there are those who take things as they come and adjust themselves to accept the world around them.  When something bad happens, these people choose to be happy anyway.  They choose to accept life's challenges and continue on.  They have control over how they feel, for the most part, and are generally very happy people.

Then, there are those who make things happen.  They have an idea in their head on how the world should be and work hard to make it that way.  They will be quite angry if things aren't going the way they think things should be and absolutely hate not being in charge or having power.

Naturally, I'm the first type of person.  I prefer to sit back, take life as it comes, and when there's challenges just accept them (or ignore them).  The problem is, I'm learning, that this isn't necessarily the right way to live.  You don't get very far being the first type of person.  You just coast along in life until things happen to you.

The second type of person is the kind of person who changes the world.  Those are the ones who are leaders, scholars, doctors, scientists.  They find problems and insist on fixing them instead of just living life with them.

Of course, this can get to the extreme.  There are those who are never satisfied, always unhappy, and always wishing things would be different but their ideals of the world are simply wrong.  I guess it's necessary to have a happy medium.

Lately, though, I've been working on making my way to the other end of the spectrum.  I mean, I'm happy in life, I love my job, I love where I am... but I've decided that maybe it's not enough.  And I've learned that the people who are most successful are the ones who open their mouths and say what they want and then work for it with all they have.

I hope I articulated this correctly.  It's hard to turn my brain into words sometimes.  But there you have it.  Two types of people.  Let's find the happy medium in between.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Disney Keepin' Us Healthy -- Flu Shots

I usually show up to work 20-30 minutes early.  This is primarily because I don't really trust the West Clock bus to get me to the tunnels in time, but also because, well, I like to be early.  Well today it worked out just perfectly for me to get there to do my biometric screening.  That's where they take you height, weight, blood pressure, blood, and other such stuff to figure out if you're healthy enough to get money!  Apparently, I'm healthier than I was in August which is the last time I did it, so that's good I guess. 

After they poked me with needles there, I found myself being pulled into another random room to be pressured into a flu shot.  It's funny because as I told the story to my roommate I realized how creepy it sounded.

I was walking through the tunnels on my break when this random guy in a doorway asked if I'd had the flu shot yet.

"....no." I said cautiously, frightfully aware of what was coming next.

"Well, you should get one!  We have ten left.  It'll only take a second!"

"But... but... I don't want a flu shot!" 

Okay, I realize how crazy that sounds.  But really.  I've gone without for the last five years at LEAST and been totally and completely fine.

This random guy convinced me.  I mean, it took less than five minutes, cost nothing, and the pinprick wasn't that big of a deal.

Now, however, a few hours later, I'm remembering the real reason I avoid these shots.  My arm hurts!!!  Oweee!!

I really want to be a drama queen about this, but the really sad part is that no one's here to listen to me whine!  I guess I'll just have to endure this pain alone!  Oh, woe is me!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Lesson Learned: Cupcakes

I got my sister-in-law into the parks earlier this week.  It was her birthday.  We did the whole DIsney birthday thing and got her a button and rode the rides and even went out to eat at the Sci Fi Dine in theater.  I got the salmon burger which was so stinking good!  But that's not part of the story.

So we were very full with our delicious meals but the server insisted on bringing a birthday cupcake to my sister-in-law.  She was stuffed, (and it didn't help that the family who was sitting in front of us, and who was on the Disney Dining plan, and didn't want their free desserts, offered us their desserts and we gladly accepted) so when the cupcake came, we didn't really know what to do.

The server, in all his server wisdom, offered a child's cup to put the cupcake in, and then put a lid on top!  Perfect fit!  Couldn't be better.  We stuffed the cup into my bag, lid on, of course, and continued on our happy way.  We enjoyed a great show of Fantasmic, made our way to EPCOT for Illuminations, and then headed to the car.  The cupcake was still perfectly in tact. 

And then.  It happened.  As I started driving, there was a small but very evil spider who decided to "harmlessly" crawl across my windshield.  I was driving!  I couldn't smush it all by myself!  So, I did the only thing I could.  Ask my older and supposedly wiser sister-in-law to smush it for me.

I forgot how much she didn't like spiders.

Oh she smushed that spider all right.  That thing was dead as... as..... something really, really dead.  It was completely and utterly decapitated.

Unfortunately, she decided to use my bag in the process.  And the spider wasn't the only thing that ended upbeing smushed and decapitated.

That's right.  The free birthday cupcake, in all its glory was nothing but a pile of mush.  Not only that, but the gooey innard got all over my bag, wallet, trading pins, SOMK cards, nametag, etc. etc. etc.

Moral of the story?  When you get a birthday cupcake, eat it.  Eat it NOW. 

You Might Be A Disney Cast Member If...

Someone else posted something like this.  But I didn't really love their list very much.  So I decided to make my own!  Here goes:

1.  You know terms like CDS, ER, EHH, 101, "Can you 45 me at...?", MiSiCi, DAK, Flik Card, FOLK, TOTS, and "lunch."

2. You can't figure out what day of the week it is.  You're lucky if you keep track of day versus night. Have you ever tried calling in to work only to find out that you don't even have a shift that day?  Yeah, that happens.

3.  You find yourself spouting off random facts and stories as you knowledgeably walk through the park with your non-Disney CM friends.

4. You automatically tell people "Happy Birthday!" "Happy anniversary!"  etc. every time you see the pin whether you're in costume or not.  This can get awkward.  "Hi princess!  Happy birthday!"  Little girl: "Mommy!  The weird person is getting into my personal space!"

5.  You're sick of eating Subway.  And quite possibly Aramark burgers.

6. You see characters backstage and it's no big thing.  But onstage it's like, "Oh my gosh!!! It's MICKEY MOUSE!!! Can I get your autograph?"

7. You accidentally on purpose sing along with Wishes, Illuminations, Fantasmic, and other shows.  If you're not singing out loud you're probably mouthing the words along with the characters or saying the lines before they're spoken out loud.  This same principle goes for rides such as the Haunted Mansion

8.  Wednesday you have no money at all.  Thursday's all "Woooo!! Paaaarty!"

9.  You have a love-hate relationship with the CPs.  You love them because they work those hours you don't want.  You hate them because, well, they're CPs.  If you're a CP this principle is reversed.  You hate being a CP because you get the terrible hours.  You love it because hey, CP!

10.  You've heard the words, "You have ruined my entire Disney vacation!" at least fourteen times.  "I'm going to Guest Relations!" is another common one.

11.  Can the West Clock bus please get different music?

12. You don't plan to wear your Disney clothes to play at Disney World.  It just happens naturally.  Guests on the other hand, plan this picture with their kids with Mickey Mouse while they're wearing their cute Mickey Mouse onesie. 

13. When you see knock offs of Disney merchandise you can't help think "That's not right!"  Walking through Wal-mart and see the Mickey stuffed animals.  "But he doesn't LOOK like that!"

14. You talk bad about Disney all the time backstage, but if you overhear a guest talking bad about your park it's the end of the world.  You just don't understand how we run!  You have no idea how efficiently this line is moving.  Stop complaining about the eighty minute wait!

15.  The Disney point.  The Disney scoop. The Basics.  Offering to take a picture for guests.  Giving directions and answering questions.    Disney behaviors make it into your everyday life.

I love my job!