Not Always the Happiest Place on Earth
It's not always all rainbows and smiles when working for the Mouse. I have my fair share of stories from my own experiences as well as friends and co-workers that would surprise, shock, and upset you. I can look back on them now and laugh at some of them, but there are still those that make me wonder what kind of a world we live in that people act the way they do.
For example, a guest got upset about not being allowed to bring a park stroller on the train and punched the cast member he was speaking to in the face, giving him an awful nosebleed and a black eye. Another guest, this one intoxicated, threw a punch at my friend working the Food and Wine festival when she told him she couldn't sell him any alcohol because he very clearly had too much to drink already. Thankfully he was so out of it he didn't hit her at all and only fell onto her register.
My own experience at the Food and Wine festival isn't very violent, but I did feel incredibly anxious during the whole ordeal and was glad my manager was there to back me up. Otherwise I'm sure I would have felt guilty about it even though I had been in the right.
I was working the Germany booth and World Showcase had just opened. I had about two guests - both of whom paid with a card - before greeting the third. She ordered some food and a drink, paid with a twenty and a ten, and went off to collect her purchase. No other guests were in line just yet so the other cashier and I were chatting when the woman returned to me with her change and her receipt. She said I had short-changed her because she had paid with two twenty dollar bills. I told her that I'd check my register, but I was pretty sure she had paid with a ten and a twenty. Now, for those who aren't familiar with a cash register, you start the day off with 1, 5, and 10 dollar bills and accumulate larger bills through the day. I had exactly one 20 dollar bill in my register. I pulled it out to show her, but she was adamant that she had brought two 20 dollar bills with her today and went on to explain how she had carefully make sure they were, in fact, 20s.
Now, I've done things like that before, thinking I had more of one bill than another. She was older so I can't imagine her eyesight was the best or perhaps it slipped her mind that she made a purchase that broke the 20 before making her way all the way back to Germany. Still, I asked if getting a manager might help and she said yes, it would. I called a manager to come and she was there promptly. All three of us stood around my register while the manager did the closing procedures (which thankfully only took a few minutes since I had only made three transactions thus far). After counting my entire drawer and checking the receipt that indicated how much cash I should have in my register, she confirmed that I was correct and that I had given the proper change and that there was only an extra 10 and the 20 in my register, along with the bills taken out to give the proper change.
Up until that point the guest had been polite if a bit frazzled - I honestly don't think she was trying to steal or anything, I think it was just a mistake she made that she was unwilling to admit to - but now she was mad. She told us that her nephew worked at the company and that she would be telling him about this incident before she walked away in a huff. It wasn't the most volatile interaction I had with a guest, but at that point it had been the only bad experience with one because before my deployment to work the Food and Wine festival, I had been a culinary cast member working in the kitchen of the Harbour House and had no guest interactions whatsoever. It rattled me a bit but, as stated before, my manager made me feel better. The rest of the day went without a hitch, but I still remember my first angry guest like it was yesterday.
- The Host
