Kelsey AKA Last Man on The Totem Pole

I’ve always known that in order to be successful in a company, you usually have to start at the bottom of the latter, and work your way up. Well, today I learned just how far down that latter truly is…

I spent my morning greeting at the park. I really don’t mind greeting, it’s not too difficult and I’m starting to know more about the park. Therefore I feel more comfortable about answering the guests’ questions. After I took my lunch break, I went to a meeting to learn about various park procedures. A full stomach, air conditioning, and a comfy chair is a dangerous combination for me. I was definitely noticeably resting my eyes for long periods of time throughout the entire meeting. Way to make a good impression self!

The meeting ended at 2:00 and I was scheduled to be off work at 3:00. I went and asked my manager what he would like me to do for my remaining hour. On my way to my manager’s office I created the perfect scenario in my head. “Hi I’m scheduled to clock out in an hour, what would you like me to do?”

“Oh, you’ve done such a great job being attentive to our guests needs today. You’ve upheld all of our Disney values today, and remained positive and attentive even after standing in the direct sunlight and horrible humidity in this 100-degree weather for the past seven hours. Go ahead, leave early, you deserve it!”

But, in all reality his response went a little more like this, “Ok, well we don’t really have a lot of guests coming in this late in the day. I saw quite a few cigarette butts and little pieces of trash. Why don’t you go grab a broom and dustpan and tidy up the entrance a bit.”

So my college educated self used all of my knowledge I’ve obtained from four years of diligently studying (maybe a bit of a stretch) at a university, grabbed the broom and dustpan, and swept up every last cigarette butt, candy wrapper, and ticket receipt laying on the pavement for an hour.

Everyone’s gotta start somewhere, but this may be a very long climb to the top!