Rochester Police Department. Off duty - Save yourself.

Yes, a man was wearing a shirt saying that today.
I'm just going to jump right in. First, the laughs.
-An older couple approached me and our conversation went like this:
Woman: Hi, are there any rides in any of these countries?
Me: Yep, there are two rides in Mexico and Norway.
Man: Massacre your way?!
Me: No, in MEXICO and NORWAY.
Man: Oh, oh...
Woman: Okay thank you. And what is in the big ball?
Me: That's a ride as well called Spaceship Earth.
Man: Honey, I knew that. (He looks at me) That's the Epcot, right?
Me: Yes. Yes it is.
-Only in a Disney cast break room will you have grown adults arguing over whether we are going to watch Good Morning America or The Suite Life Of Zach and Cody. It has happened more than once.
- I participated in the most awkward conversation of my entire life the other day. One of my coordinators was talking with me and a girl that I work with. This girl is one of my closer friends and we went through a lot of training together; and she is on the heavy side. The coordinator was talking about some singer he saw in concert recently and said, "The last time I saw her ten years ago, she looked thin like you (gestured to me). But now she's ballooned up and looks like you (gestures to girl). I don't know what happened." Most awkward silence I have experienced. I pretty much walked away.
- You know how parents dress up their twins in matching outfits and it's really cute and socially acceptable? I think that rule should end at age twelve or so. At least it shouldn't reach the point where you and your twin vacation in Walt Disney World together. In matching dresses. With matching braided pigtails. With the EXACT SAME rings, earrings, bracelets, and necklace. Wearing the same shoes. And be over the age of fifty. People were pointing and laughing.

Now get the tissues out.
- This one isn't just a one time thing but it's something I have found to make my day SO much better. It all starts when a distracted parent pushing a stroller and trying to stay on top of everything going on decides to park it somewhere near me. I catch the attention of the cute little kid and proceed to play hide-and-seek with them for a minute or two. As they transform from sleepy to smiling and laughing, I walk away before the parents realize what just happened. It's always our little secret :)
- The other day I was working "Extra Magic Hours" which is fancy for saying that the park is open three extra hours and all of the cast members get to stay an hour after that, usually resulting in getting home around 2:30 am. Needless to say, I was a little tired already and discouraged that I wouldn't be getting much sleep before my shift the next day. But, I forced my spirits up and ended up having a conversation with a very nice family from the Bay Area. I was asking about their vacation and what parks they loved and telling them that I'm really homesick but it's good for me. They talked to me like family and it was so refreshing and comforting! Then they started asking me about my job. I love it when that happens! One of the fathers in the group asked what the company is like to work for. I went on and on. And on. The feelings that I have for the Disney company are so incredible. I wasn't able to put it into words that well on the spot, but I have been thinking a lot about that question since he asked me. However great I thought it would be to work for this marvelous company; it is at least ten times better. My job is the best part of my day-to-day life. I don't know many people who can say that and Disney has set a standard for me because I want to be able to say that for the rest of my life.
- Later that same night, I had four little girls in princess dresses run up to me and ask to trade pins. My heart melted. So I knelt down and let them choose what pins they wanted to trade as I told them how pretty they looked and listened to stories of meeting Belle and Cinderella. Before they left, one of them walked up right next to me, gave me the biggest hug I've had in a month and a half, and thanked me. I loved that moment.
- Sometimes I strategically place myself across the way from an area where I know a character is about to make an appearance so that I can watch all of the excitement and magic as it is happening. Today I was watching a line of anxious children and impatient parents waiting for Snow White. The girl in front is always the one I focus on, and today I know why. As soon as Snow White walked out, she was wonderstruck. Snow White immediately took her hand and skipped around in circles for a good minute. the girl was probably about four and kept up as good as she could while listening to Snow White talking to her. Then they stopped and the princess sat down on the curb so she could be at eye level with the girl. The girl followed suit and, still holding her hand, found a spot to sit right next to her while smiling and whispering secrets to her new best friend. That was when I started to feel the tears in my eyes. And they just continued as I watched teenagers hug their childhood hero, Snow White hold and kiss a baby and talk to her as if she could understand, the real princess talk to young girls as if they were the only person in the world, and parents setting their cameras down because they didn't want to miss the real magical memory being made right in front of them. It all hit me again. There is so much more than rides and restaurants and clean bathrooms here. These streets are where millions of people have seen magic with their own eyes. Magic that isn't possible anywhere else in the word. Magic that is so irreplaceable that every day I see grown adults coming back to experience it all over again. I may be homesick, lonely, malnourished, and overtired. But it's all gone as soon as I see that magic in a little girls' eyes.