I've worked for Disney for about six months now, both at Disney World and now here in Disneyland. There's a difference between this environment and any other I've ever run into. It's not quite part of the real world. The themed lands, the music, the costuming, the cleanliness of the propery...there is some kind of magic here. Or is it just the fact that small things make the experience more positive?
One of the disadvantages of working in a Disney park, I discovered, is one realizes just how much garbage there is everywhere else. Cast members are asked to perform the "Disney Scoop"--picking up trash on the ground to keep things looking nice. During training, each cast member is drilled with the idea that safety, courtesy, and efficiency are vital to the park's operation. You're supposed to greet everyone, something that can be as simple as a smile or a wave, and thank everyone you work with, again, even if it's only with a smile. Cast members are expected to help guests, approaching them and offering to help instead of waiting to be sought out. These things aren't major work, really. It's common politeness to smile and say hello, to put trash in the trash cans where it belongs.
So how come when I'm walking around in "the real world" nobody ever does any of this? There's litter all over my college campus, and the streets, yet often there are trash cans within sight. Hardly anybody picks it up after it's been on the ground. After all, if they didn't drop it, it's not their responsibility. Riding the bus home is an adventure every day. Will I sit next to someone blaring his music? Listen to a tirade from a man with a vocabulary seemingly composed entirely of cursing? Will I even get on the bus, or will the driver pass me by because he simply does not want to stop? Last night my bus driver got in a fight with a passenger because he requested the stop too late. It seemed that simply stopping and letting the man off would have cost him too much.
I'm not urging the world to "Disney-fy" itself. I merely put forth that the world might be a friendlier, cleaner place if we acted a bit more like we were all cast members. Pick up trash (if it's not something completely disgusting, of course). Say hello to people, or at least smile at them. Try doing something helpful, like offering a seat to someone on the bus or helping someone who looks lost. Seriously, it just takes one possitive thing to change someone's day.
No, this wasn't the most inspired first post, but it was something that's been on my mind lately.
