A couple weeks ago, I had one of the most crazy, chaotic, and calamitous shifts I’ve ever had so far on my Disney program. Like truly, it was one of those days that only happens when you think, “Huh, my life’s been going pretty good,” the day before.
Literally, nothing good happened the entire shift. Which was bad for me in the moment, but is now good for present-me, because I have something to blog about! See that’s the thing about a bad day:
Sometimes, there’s nothing you can do about it except get through it.
…and then maybe blog about it later.
As I was thinking about it, though, I was like “Well, I *could* write about it, but what would even be the takeaway, or the point?”
Well, dear reader, I have no idea. So let’s find out together.
I will say this is a rather funny story to me now, and I believe it also has some entertainment value, so here we go.
It all starts with the fact that for this particular shift, I was working outside of my home location (so not my regular stores in Disney Springs). I was scheduled to work in Candy Cauldron, a candy store on the complete opposite side of Disney Springs. I had worked a few shifts there in previous weeks, so I pretty much knew what to expect.
Or, at least, I thought I did.
The first thing you should know about this day is that the shirt I was wearing was about 4 sizes too big. This is due to the fact that costuming never has my size…ever. Luckily, the costume also has an apron that kind of hides the shirt, but here are some pictures just so you can visualize this more:
As you can see, this is the flowiest shirt I’ve ever worn. However, I’m pretty used to crazy getups:
Anyway, I’m in a giant shirt but otherwise in a pretty good mood. I was running a few minutes behind, but I managed to catch the bus on time, and that was all that mattered. People on the DCP love to complain about the buses (I can’t judge; there have been a few times where I’ve gone on a bus rant), but overall I have loved living in a walkable area with public transportation. As someone who hates driving, bus drivers are some of my favorite people in the world. However, sometimes the actual buses themselves can be a bit of an issue. And on this particular day, that turned out to be the case.
We had made it over halfway to Disney Springs. The bus that I take to work stops at a couple of resorts as part of the route, with Disney Springs being the last stop. We made it to the first resort with no problem, but then, as the bus was pulling out of the parking lot, we stopped at the stop sign to get back on the road…and then we stayed stopped.
And stayed stopped some more.
A couple minutes later…still not moving.
Then, the bus driver stood up and turned around to face us.
This is not a good sign, I thought.
I took out my earbuds and looked at her.
The bus driver explained that the bus was not accelerating like it was supposed to, and that it currently could not go more than 20 miles per hour. Because of this, she didn’t think we would be able to make it to Disney Springs safely, so she was calling a repair crew to come look at it, and in the meantime, we would have to wait for the next bus.
Well, I thought, this is inconvenient, but considering this is my first time being late for work ever, it’s not a big deal.
And it can’t really get worse than this. ← remember those words
There was a big commotion as the people around me decided what they were going to do. This was a bus of about probably 30-ish people. A large group decided to get off the bus and walk to the guest buses at the resort that would take them to Disney Springs. One person booked an Uber and announced that there were 5 seats available to whoever would want to split the cost, $6 per person. And so she and a group of 5 left the bus. So that left me and about 7 other people on the bus.
I decided that I was not going to pay to go to work. My shift was supposed to start at 5pm, and the next bus was scheduled to arrive at Disney Springs *at* 5pm, so at most I would probably be 10-15 minutes late, which is not the worst thing in the world. (Now, if this situation had occurred while I was in high school/college trying to make it to Band class, or any Band event really…shivers. There’s a chorus of “early is on time; on time is late; late is unacceptable” echoing through my head at the moment.)
Anyway, about 30 minutes later, the next bus arrived, and we were back on track and on our way to Disney Springs. Everything was starting to look up, except for the clouds, which upon our arrival to the Disney Springs bus stop, decided to pour down on us.
And, as the heavens were opening up, so were the bus doors. Time to walk to work.
Luckily, I had my umbrella.
Unluckily, my umbrella did not have me.
The rain was attacking me from all sides, and my tiny umbrella could only do so much. So, when I got to work, my hair looked *fabulous*…but the rest of me was completely soaked.
There wasn’t really anything I could do about that (I’d never brought an extra pair of socks to work before, but guess what you can always find in my bag now?) so I clocked in to work, about 13 minutes late.
The first hour or so of standing behind a register with squishy socks wasn’t the best feeling in the world…but after a while either my socks started drying or I was just becoming numb to the dampness (a win is a win).
And, I knew that once I got my break, I would be able to just sit and unwind. I’d never looked forward to staring off into the distance more. The store was busy, my socks were wet, and my pants were so heavy from the weight of the water that they would have been falling down were it not for my belt. But my break was coming soon, and I was sure that was when things would start to look up. Because (say it with me):
It can’t get much worse than this.
About two hours into my shift, I got my break. (Hooray!) But when I looked at the assignment paper, it said my break was only 15 minutes. (Not Hooray!)
Basically, because I clocked in late, my shift was less than 6 hours, which is the cutoff time for a 30-minute break. So, because I happened to be working 5 hours and 47 minutes that day, I got a 15-minute break. And, after the time it took me to ask about my break and then walk to the breakroom (a 4-minute walk each way), I was left with…5 minutes.
And I forgot to pack my lunch.
Ok, not great, but at least I’ll have time to sit down for a second. It can’t get much worse than this.
So, basically what went down was I walked to the breakroom, drank some water, sat down, listened to one song on my playlist, drank some more water, and then headed back out again. To work the last 3 hours and 45 minutes of my shift.
It was at this point that I stopped thinking “it can’t get much worse than this.”
One: because I was pretty sure I was jinxing myself, and
Two: because I was actually starting to imagine how much worse it could get.
Some more time went by, and now it was later in the evening. The crowds were starting to dwindle, which was good in some ways (I don’t really know how much more human interaction I had left in me) but bad in other ways (I was left just staring into the distance, contemplating…everything).
And as I was contemplating, I realized something. In the midst of all of my negative thoughts (this sucks, I’m wet, I’m tired, I want to go to bed, the DCP never mentioned *this* in their Instagram Reels), there was another, quieter voice in my head:
Just keep going. You’re almost done. This isn’t forever. Tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow is so soon. Tomorrow is literally in 15 minutes, actually. (Yes, it was almost midnight.)
Once I started paying attention to that quieter voice, my other thoughts started to shift. And suddenly, nothing else that happened that night mattered.
Still had 30 minutes left in my shift?
You’re almost there. Keep going. That’s only, like, 6 more Disney songs.
Bus a few minutes late picking us up?
That’s ok, the shift is over now. Relax. You’re almost home. Tomorrow will be better.
Getting home and taking off my shoes and realizing that yes, my socks were indeed still wet, and my hypothesis that I had just become numb to the dampness was correct?
Whatever, it’s okay, you can dry your shoes before your shift tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow will be better.
Washing and drying my feet and then having, like a whole sheet of dead skin flake off because of standing in wet shoes for 6 hours? (TMI, I guess.)
No worries, that was a bit gross but you’re still alive, and yeah…that was actually kind of satisfying.
And finally, finally, I made it to the end of the night, and to bed.
Before I continue, I would just like to state that my feet (and I) are perfectly fine now. In case anyone was wondering.
Now, when I started writing this I mentioned I had no idea what the takeaways were. Well, now that I’ve relived my trauma, I *can* actually think of a few:
- In middle school/high school, I remember my teachers would always talk about the importance of having a “growth mindset.” Not sure if this was the exact scenario they were trying to prepare me for…but it ended up coming in handy. So…there you go. I guess I do have *some* practical real life skills. (Or at least one, anyway.)
- I also remember something my mom used to say all the time, which was that you can’t always control your circumstances, but you *can* control your attitude. I always hated when she said that. I even kind of cringed just now as I wrote it. But she was right. I guess. Thanks, mom.
- Some days are bad. But tomorrow is so soon. (And depending on when you are reading this, tomorrow could even be 15 minutes from now!)
On the bus ride home that night, I collapsed onto the seat, put in my earbuds, and stared blankly out the window. I honestly don’t even remember anything between getting on the bus and then shedding my foot skin. (Imagery is my favorite literary device, can you tell?)
Here’s the last thought I remember having:
Today sucked. Sometimes that happens, I guess.
Tomorrow will be better.
And it was. ☀️
