Shiriki_Utundu
Member
exactly,
that is what I mean by it comes across as forced and awkward.
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Disney CMs calling guests " Friends"?
- Thread starter tallica
- Start date
that is what I mean by it comes across as forced and awkward.
Shiriki_Utundu
Member
of course not. And no I'm not giving it a pass because it's Walt.........I don't care who said it in a context like that. It is good to go.
But your video is not the typical context of how cast uses it now so your example is misplaced or misleading to this discussion.
Far, far more often cast dispenses friend in a more one-on-one ish context. Like a cashier directly calling a single guest "friend" or a gate keeper at the tap in kiosk individually addressing guests making it sorely forced and out of place. Who talks like that??? Nobody unless quasi-forced or scripted.
Best to say nothing but a "good day" or "hello", as Mom, alluded to, than to sound ridiculous.
as you know context means close to everything when evaluating appropriateness
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
I agree, but I thought that’s what most fans wanted from a themed Disney experience. Why else are CMs called CMs? The nomenclature of (artificial/scripted) friendship and familiarity is woven throughout the experience.
Chi84
Premium Member
Wait til you get to be my mother-in-law’s age (91) and some server calls you “young lady.”Ma'am makes me feel old. I inwardly cringe when I hear it.
The older gentleman at Target calls me Dollface. Let's go with that.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
Hopefully I'm not the only person that understands this. Jim Nantz will always be the first thing I think of any time I ever hear "hello friends".
As far as the actual discussion -- I couldn't care less what CMs call me. It's a non-issue (barring obvious exceptions like slurs); I'm actually surprised that people think "friends" is a problem.
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crazy4disney
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Hence why ladies & gentleman boys & girls never should have left
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
They, too, don’t get around the issue of gender.Hence why ladies & gentleman boys & girls never should have left
crazy4disney
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
I know this probably gets removed but ladies & gentleman boys & girls covers everything & if you are the my guess less than 1% that gets offended by that it goes back to the old adage you are not going to please everyone so lets change everything bc of it… gay straight etc being called lady or gentleman should not be offensive just like being called a boy or girl is not offensive. Go ahead report & remove the post
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
Leaving aside the matter of those who may not feel covered by the phrase, you can't use the collective "Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls" in all situations anyway. "Friend(s)" can be used for individuals, small groups, and large groups alike.I know this probably gets removed but ladies & gentleman boys & girls covers everything & if you are the my guess less than 1% that gets offended by that it goes back to the old adage you are not going to please everyone so lets change everything bc of it… gay straight etc being called lady or gentleman should not be offensive just like being called a boy or girl is not offensive. Go ahead report & remove the post
I'm not sure why it's always framed in terms of offensiveness by those reacting against such changes. It feels like a bit of a strawman designed to paint the "other side" as overly sensitive. I'm not offended by the existing terminology (I quite like being referred to as "sir", as it happens), but I also recognise the benefits of moving towards something more inclusive. I've nothing to lose; others have something to gain. Why would I object to such a shift?
Why would I?!Go ahead report & remove the post
Vegas Disney Fan
Well-Known Member
I’ve been called Prince a few times in the parks and it makes me smile every time. The same is true when someone calls my GF a princess, it absolutely makes her day.
As a rare occurrence I think it’s fun, if it was constant it would be very annoying though.
I’ve worked in a casino for 20+ years and use “guys” for a male only or mixed group and “ladies” for a female only group. Those are the two terms I’ve had the least issues with. I use sir and miss for individuals if I don’t know their name. There is no perfect terms so you just go for the least problematic, I’ll also call someone whatever they want, if they say I’m a girl (even if they’ve got a beard and are muscle bound) I’ll call them miss for the rest of the day. It makes no difference to me.
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LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
I think you missed my point: I, as a gay man, would object to being called "princess" by anyone except another gay man. Said to me by someone else, the term would almost certainly come across as a homophobic slur. I have no problem being called "prince".
Vegas Disney Fan
Well-Known Member
To me Prince and Princess would fall into physical appearance rather than gender though, if you are a guy (whether straight, gay, or transgender) you’d be a Prince… girl would be Princess.
I agree a stranger should never call a guy a Princess, unless he’s dressed as one.
You can call me "Your Majesty."
Vegas Disney Fan
Well-Known Member
As you wish your majesty.
I have fun with this subject because people are so serious about it but in my 20+ years of customer service I’ve never had a problem with it. I’ve talked to tens of thousands of people and have had maybe a couple dozen instances where someone asked me not to call them sir, ma’am, guys, ladies, etc or requested I use they/them, or male/female pronouns… a simple “what would you like me to call you?” has been 100% effective so far.
And yes… I have had requests similar to your majesty and I just go with it and have fun with it.
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I've been called by a guy from Philly " Hey , Yo! "
Fyi - Yo is not my name
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
Could be a nice little gift to the CMs to allow them to use this term and address groups as "Your Royal Highnesses" with perhaps a slight eye roll, as in "I'm sorry your Royal Highnesses, but Roundup Rodeo BBQ is full."
I would echo what @LittleBuford and others have said on here, I've seen no evidence that Disney is changing its greetings in response to outrage or protest from anyone. They've always tried to be as inclusive, overly-friendly, and just generally over-the-top in their terminology, and moving away from gendered greetings is just a good move to avoid potentially awkward situations involving CMs having to try and guess on the fly what terms to use for each group or individual that comes along. Personally, I like 'folks' but then 'folks' has no singular version whereas friends does, so that might give it the edge in this kind of setting where you're training thousands of employees to greet tens of thousands of guests every day.
Disdude71
Member
I think "friend" does sound a bit "cult like", but I don't mind it that much if it's used sparingly. Could they call us "guests" as in "Good morning, Guests!"? Perhaps that's too much like in house jargon? I don't know. We all know it's a theme park we paid to get into, we are not actual friends. Being a "guest" would be okay, after all the have a restaurant and song named for it!
GimpYancIent
Well-Known Member
Gender is nothing to get around, over, under or through. Gender should not be an issue. The fake issue that was created over gender has now gotten old, made for some interesting commentary, but it is stale now. The vast majority of guests, visitors, tourists, fans / Disney enthusiasts do not even really hear the initial greetings and don't care. The elimination of "Lady's and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls" and "Sir" or "Mam" has actually accomplished nothing nore impacted the experience / expectations of going / being at a Disney Property.