THINGS I HAVE LEARNED FROM MY GUESTS

Anytime I see someone with an interesting name I always ask them about it. I met Wyatt Earp's great, great, great grand kids. I think I impressed the Mendenhall family that I had heard about thier grandfather's Glacier in Alaska.

On a few occasions I actually got a bit of a history lesson. I met the Miller family one day. Not an uncommon name. In fact, in some areas of the country there are dozens of families named Miller and Smith. Ever wonder why ? Accordng to one guest, during the times of war through out history when kings and emperors would form army to attack thier neighbors, the smiths, as in blacksmiths, silversmiths and other metal workers were left behind in the villages to make the armor and weapons. The Millers, or Mill Workers, were also left behind to make sure everyone stayed fed. Hmmm, inretesting. Is it true ? I'm not sure, but it sounds plausable.

I always find it fasinating the number of people who have traced thier family tree. One family i talked to traced thier ancestors all the way back to the Biblical city of Ur. When ever i get families with the last name Disney, they always try to see if that will get them somewhere. The answer to that is. . . No. If you were truly related you wouldn't be checking yourself into a standard room over looking the loading dock. We may have been born yesterday, but we've been around the block a few times since.

One thing you definately learn working in Disney customer service is how to read people. Here's a hint, if you think someone is lying, say nothing. in that moment of silence, the liar gets real fidgity. they can't stand silence. If given enough rope they will usually hang themself.

Service animals come in all shapes and sizes. At the Studios, a tech said he saw a child with a service pony. . . in the park. One of my guest had thier service dogs that was trained ot detect siezsures (i think). During one of kid's play groups (back home), the service dog went to a differnet child and signaled that the person was needing help. Basically, what the parents thought was a behavioral problem ended up being a true medical condition AND it took a dog to figure it out.