"Mean" Cast Members

[joanna71985]

No matter where you go in the world, or in life, you will find good people, bad people, crazy people, ect. So it's no surprise that it holds true for Disney. You will find all sorts of people here. It's not fair to say that most of guests are bad, just like it's not fair to say most of CMs are bad. In all my years of going to Disney, and my time working here, I have found very few bad CMs and not that many bad guests. One thing to consider is how to handle a situation. Kind words and action will difuse a potentially bad situation much faster then angry words and action.

 

[monorailmike]

I'm the white Polto Lican... lol. But Mexico rocks anyway... it's a fun place to go.

I am having so much fun as a gringo living and working in Saltillo, Mexico I can hardly stand it!!! :lol:

Actually it has been pretty cool here. Monterrey is about an hour away and there is a lot of fun to be had there.

 

[Merlin]

actually the quote was

So what she's saying is, for every 1 guest that has ruined her day, she could give 2 examples of guests that have made her day. Unless there's another post that I'm missing, I agree with dflye on this. I don't think she would say that every single guest has either made her day, or ruined her day. That's expecting a lot out of the guests if every single one has to make or ruin your day. Just like how there are CMs that are outstanding, rude CMs, and then most of them just do their jobs and are pleasant. The ones most people remember are either the outstanding, or the rude ones. Maybe you, Merlin, should stop putting words into other people's mouths.

Okay out of fairness, I suppose I can see how that interpretation would make sense as well.

 

[Merlin]

ROTFLMAO!! I think our point is that we're trying to get Merlin to see things from our (the CM's) perspective, and while he says he is, he's not doing it accurately.

REMINDER TO ALL PEOPLE WHOSE MINDS HAVE BEEN CHANGED ABOUT CMS IN THIS THREAD
While we may be telling horror stories, you have to consider how much guest interaction we have daily. I would say that I see around 1,000-4500 guests any day. When I think of horrible guest stories, I can only think of about...15 TRULY bad ones off the top of my head. Make it an average of 2750 guests...let's round it to 3000 for the peak times...and I've worked about 7 months, so including days off...that's about...540,000 guests I've seen (give or take) since I've been statused with the company. 15 bad guests, in a total of about 540,000?

Reality check: what we're saying isn't embellishment, but you have to consider that you're likely one of the greater portion of the 540,000 I've seen.

Perhaps we're both misunderstanding each other. Indulge me while I attempt to re-summarize the points I've been repeatedly making throughout this thread:

• I have no doubts, nor have I ever disputed, that you (Disney CMs) deal with difficult guests every day.
• The overwhelming vast majority of CMs I've encountered have been wonderful, thus making the "bad" ones stand out like a sore thumb.
• Given the claim, by many CMs on this thread, that horrible, rotten guests are encountered frequently, it's logical to conclude that ALL CMs encounter them just as often as you do. To me, this proves it's possible to maintain a friendly, professional attitude toward the "bad" guests.
• As a human being, you are capable of choosing your own attitude. Emotions occur within one's own brain. Therefore, another person's rudeness cannot "make" you be rude to them. This is just a convenient, yet unacceptable, excuse for rudeness.
• You (the Disney CM) are providing a service and being compensated for it. That's called business. It's not personal. Your response to an "attack" by a guest, should always be with this fact in mind. Being rude back to a guest is making it personal. If your safety is threatened, you should take reasonable action to remove yourself from the situation. If this means fighting back physically, that's one thing. "Fighting back" verbally is immature and unprofessional.
• To suggest that I can't possibly understand what you (the Disney CMs) deal with, without knowing anything about me, my career, my life and my history, implies that your job is more difficult than any job I could do. If that is true, then you are in a truly horrible job and you have only yourself to blame if you make the conscious choice to remain. The key word here is "choice". That's what you are making. Don't whine and complain about it, and most importantly, don't blame ME and other innocent guests because YOUR job is miserable.
• Lastly (and I believe this one is the most important), many CMs go into their interactions with a guest assuming that the guest is going to be difficult (perhaps because that guest shares some common trait with a previous difficult guest). I know this, because I've experienced it with SOME CMs. I suspect a number of the CMs posting on this thread (i.e. Robynchic) have that mentality. We can debate this point until none of us can stand it anymore, but by definition, that is "stereotyping" and it is wrong and unfair.

 

[mousermerf]

Stereotyping is neither wrong nor unfair - I stopped listening to "Positive Action" and "Up with People" crap after i left gradeschool.

Some people suck - and you can pick them out ahead of time.

 

[Woody13]

As a human being, you are capable of choosing your own attitude. Emotions occur within one's own brain. Therefore, another person's rudeness cannot "make" you be rude to them. This is just a convenient, yet unacceptable, excuse for rudeness.

That must mean, do as I say, not as I do as far as you are concerned (by your own admission).

 

[Woody13]

Stereotyping is neither wrong nor unfair - I stopped listening to "Positive Action" and "Up with People" crap after i left gradeschool.

Some people suck - and you can pick them out ahead of time.

Merlin teaches this stuff. He seems to seldom follow his own advice (didn't Alice say that too?).

 

[Merlin]

Can't be a zing until he actually does..

Otherwise it's just "I'll get you with a snappy comment!"

Zing!

Actually, I didn't mean it as a zing OR a snappy comment. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. I was being sincere. I thought the list was really funny. And I have no doubt it's pretty accurate to a large degree, but was presented in a humorous way, which I respect. Again, I never said you guys don't deal with difficult guests. I KNOW you do and I have the utmost admiration for the majority of CMs who conduct themselves professionally and maintain their composure in difficult guest situations. The CMs I'm complaining about are the ones who lose their cool with guests and can't handle it. I'll say it until I'm blue in the face, I don't think they should stay in that job if it's so bad and they can't deal with it. Because like it or not, encountering difficult people is going to be a harsh reality in a service-related job. There's no shame in admitting you can't handle a particular type of job. There IS shame (IMO) in staying in a job that's horrible, handling it in an immature, unprofessional way, and making lame excuses for one's wrong behavior.

Ooops! Got off on a tangent there. Sorry. Anyway, the list was funny and when I get a chance, I'll see if I can be creative enough to come up with a "Cast Members" version just for fun. But again, I didn't mean it as a zing in any way shape or form.

 

[Merlin]

That must mean, do as I say, not as I do as far as you are concerned (by your own admission).

How so? What evidence do you have of me ever losing MY cool?

Just out of curiosity, this is essentially just a healthy debate (which I realize has probably become a little much for some). You don't seem very good at the whole "debating" thing. Rather, you just make jabs that have little to no relevance. Tell me, is it your sincere belief that you've somehow gotten me with a "zing"? :lol:

 

[Merlin]

Merlin teaches this stuff. He seems to seldom follow his own advice (didn't Alice say that too?).

This is meaningless unless you can back it up with something.

 

[mousermerf]

There aren't enough people to put up with the crap the sheer amount of crap that Guests deliver at WDW.

WDW cannot hire enough people right now.

Lots of folks are quitting.

It's very busy right now.

Add to that a ton of crap the company itself is imposing and WDW is losing its cast at an astonishing rate.

 

[Woody13]

Tell me, is it your sincere belief that you've somehow gotten me with a "zing"? :lol:

Merlin, you have done that to yourself with your posts.

 

[ChipmunkStar]

Stereotyping is neither wrong nor unfair - I stopped listening to "Positive Action" and "Up with People" crap after i left gradeschool.

Some people suck - and you can pick them out ahead of time.

Not so much the same, but it just reminded me...

Evelyone's a rittle bit lacist!

 

[mkt]

ummmm...

DA BEARS!

 

[TiggersPooh]

Not so much the same, but it just reminded me...

Evelyone's a rittle bit lacist!

simply amazing!

 

[mouseman720]

I know that any time me and my family have gone to WDW we have never had a problem with acast member. I do recall waiting in line for Rockin rollercoaster when a mother and her family went to the fast pass line and was yelling and screaming at the CM because he wouldn't let them on cause there time had exspired. He began to yell right back at her. My thoguhts are that people need to stop thinking the world revoles around them and realize that this is there job. they are only following the rules. Moderen day america can't seen to get that. I mena WDW is the most magical place on earth don't wreak it for others just beccause you think you poo don't stink.

 

[Merlin]

Merlin, you have done that to yourself with your posts.

Tell me, do you get these brilliant responses out of your "English to Cliche" dictionary? :lol: Clearly, you were not the debate champion at your school, were you?

Btw, still waiting for an example from you on how I've failed to take my "own advice".

 

[Merlin]

Some people suck - and you can pick them out ahead of time.

Really? And how exactly do you do that? You'll get no argument from me that some people DO, in fact, suck. But I would consider it rather closed-minded to automatically jump to that conclusion without first giving the individual the benefit of the doubt.

 

[disneyfan0423]

I just recently ran into a rude CM when I went to see Mickey at the Judge's Tent. Although I think part of her attitude had been caused by my grandma(who isn't crazy about Disney World), who was giving the lady a hard time about the flash on her camera. So I agree that the CM are not getting enough respect, not to mention the abuse I have witnessed by guests towards the characters. I can't stand to see the abuse caused by stupid NON-Disney Freaks, especially because of the conditions characters and CM's have to work in at times(heat, crowds, abusers).

 

[robynchic]

Really? And how exactly do you do that? You'll get no argument from me that some people DO, in fact, suck. But I would consider it rather closed-minded to automatically jump to that conclusion without first giving the individual the benefit of the doubt.

You'd be surprised at the non-verbal cues you pick up on. Body language, how they stand, how they move, how they hold their arms. And the verbal cues- tone of voice, the way they speak towards others (and to their family).

Once you see that kind of body language, you know that they might be trouble.

Oh, and the body language for men is different than for women. It's the men that are easier to pick up on. Because women tend to have more fluid body movements, and men tend to have stiffer body movements, it's more difficult to read a woman. And men tend to fly off the handle very quickly. Women tend to escalate.

This is why CMs are taught how (and how not to) stand. We want to show openness and willingness. Most CMs that don't stand like that will eventually get written up, or could even get the axe.

Of course, we could be wrong about a person's body language. Certain builds move differently. For instance, if I saw Paul Teutul Sr (from Orange County Choppers), how he moves, and how he interacts with his sons in front of me, I would most likely put up my guard. But he's apparently a really nice guy.

And MERF...what do you think of a sea of orange during the summertime?