A Day In The Life

So let's look at what a normal day in the life of an Emporium Merch CP is like!

Five days a week I wake up either at 1 or later. Some days I get up at 4 PM for my 7 PM shift, and other days I'm up at 1 for a 3PM shift. I hang around the house and make lunch, eat, get into my costume and then I head for the buses. Because I live at Patterson I take a nice walk from my home to Chatham's bus stop and hang out for a few minutes until either the A bus or the B bus gets there. The A bus stops at Vista, Wilderness Lodge, Contemporary and then at Westclock, which is where I'm headed. It takes roughly 45 minutes to an hour, which is the same with the B bus. The B bus goes to the Poly and then stops at the Grand, before stopping at Westclock.

When I get to Westclock, most days I go straight onto the Cast bus, but sometimes I go into costuming. If I have to go to costuming I allow myself about 30 minutes more time than I needed, just in case I really have to hunt. Luckily for me, I wash my 3 skirts and my expediting costume at home, and only have to worry about getting new blouses and maybe a new tie if mine falls apart. After this I head to the Cast bus and ride it to our entrance of the Magic Kingdom. A couple days out of the week I stop in the Mouse and get Subway for dinner, but if I don't get Subway I head straight down to the Main Street USA area.

A lot of the time I get there early so I hang around the tables and talk with my friends or I'll read a book. Sometimes I hang out on the couch and relax, or fall asleep in the armchairs. This really just depends on what time I get to work! 15 minutes before I am scheduled to start work in the Emporium, I head upstairs to clock in. After that I'll head outside to relax or I'll wander around and talk some more. At the time my shift starts, I go back and get my assignment which can be anything from picking up Stock 5 or Register 17, straightening the charm table, assisting a register, merchantainer 1, door greeter 6, assisting Baby Care or going to Baby Care myself!

If I'm on register I normally hope for Baby Care, but if not I head out to a register where I will hang out for about 3 hours. During those 3 hours I will chat with guests, clean up my area, put things away and of course ring up merchandise. Sometimes we get pulled for other little tasks around the store, but mostly you stay put. After about 3 hours, I get a break and go downstairs or outside to hang out and eat. I then go back up and get a new assignment and head out again. After another roughly 3 hours in my area, I will get my second break and after that I come back for my final assignment. Once our store closes, I get a new task to help in a certain area, do the trash or fill the registers. Once that's done, I head for the bus and go home.

If I am a floorstock that day, I will pick up my radio and my earpiece during my 15 minutes before I start, do a radio check and go and meet up with my expeditor. Once I get my assignment to a floorstock or replenish position, I head out to my area and start to straighten and catch up with my morning person to see what's going on. I then start going back and forth to fill my shelves, and get my carts of merchandise my expeditor pulls for me. I stock, help my guests and jump on the registers if it's getting busy. Sometimes we're slow enough to watch the parade or just spend time with a family, but most of the time this is go go go! When we close, I'll get a door assignment, which is making sure people are only moving south in our store, and not allowing them to go north. Once we fully close, then we get down to the business of fully restocking our area, and then once we are done we head home.

While I'm expediting, I start at 2, which is the earliest of most of my shifts. For this I spend my day in the back breaking down merchandise and picking stuff for the stockers to put out on the floor. I love this role the most, just because I always have something to do and I can help my friends. It's also fun because you get some downtime to chill, without the pressure of being onstage.

After I hop on the bus I take a 30 minute or so ride back to Chatham, and hop off the bus. I walk to Patterson, show ID at the gate and head home. Sometimes my roommates'll be awake, but most of the time I'm the last person home. I'll turn on a movie and make some dinner, sit down and relax a little bit. Then I hop in the shower and get into bed, red a little bit and then go to sleep. By the time I'm asleep it's about 4 or 5 AM, and I will do it all again this afternoon.

Goodnight!
Kelci

Dealing With Pet Loss Away From Home

So while I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on this subject, the recent loss of my cat of 13 years and a friend's loss of her pet has gotten me thinking and prompted me to write this. My cat, Calvin, passed away about two weeks ago now and I was at a loss for what to do. I couldn't think, let alone face my guests with a Disney smile. So, I called in and I sat and watched TV and played video games. I coped the only way I knew how: Crying and trying to forget.

Being in the DCP is a lot of the time a person's first time away from home. I'd say roughly 70% of the people I know went to community college and lived at home, while the rest lived at Universities on the campus. I think it's harder to deal with the loss of anyone or anything that you deeply love because of this. While majority of my time here is spent happily working with my friends, spending time at home or in a park, and taking classes, not enough time is spent keeping my brain from going into overdrive and keeping me from thinking. Which even now, two weeks after my beloved kitty has passed away, I still have moments where I just sit and look at his pictures and cry.

It's hard, being so far away from your loved ones, and not having anyone around you that knew your animal, or knows what you're going through. A lot of people don't have such an amazing gang of roomies that rally around them and help them out, so I thought I would share some things I've learned since Calvin moved on.

One: It's okay to be sad.
This is one I struggled with a lot. Calvin was just a cat, right? I'm dumb to have called in to work and stayed home and cried. He's just a cat.

The thing is with this, is it's not JUST a pet to you. A pet takes on a role in your family and becomes one of the family and really is someone you grow to love and know. They are our friends, our listeners and on bad days they are the ones that love us no matter what. So, go ahead. Cry. Scream. Call in sick. Grieve. Show your friends photographs and videos and tell them stories about your friend. Laugh at the good times you shared, the memories you have. Remember how they always did that one thing that they only ever did for you. It's not just a cat. It was YOUR cat.

Two: Find Closure.
3500 miles away from home it's hard to find closure that you might have been able to find at home. You don't have your family around you, but you have other people who care. Take your pets favorite human treat and go sit in a park and people watch. Go find a family of ducks to follow around. Head out to Conservation Station and pet some goats. Find your peace.

Three: Try not to dwell.
This is the one I've had the most trouble dealing with, but I'm coping. Try your best not to dwell on what happened. Remember your happy times with your pet and don't get stuck on the sad thoughts. Keep in mind that though we have pets, their lives are naturally shorter than ours and that death is a natural part of life. As sad and unfortunate as it really is, focusing on how good of a life your animal had helps a bit.



This post is dedicated to anyone else on the DCP that lost their dear pet while on their program, and also to my wonderful old man cat, Calvin. Thanks for 13 long and happy years of snuggles and purrs and for keeping me quiet company when I wanted it and sometimes even when I didn't. You were one amazing cat, Fat Calvin and you will truly be missed by your whole family. You were here for us for too short a time, but what a sweet time it was.

RIP Calvin