Rain

The worst time to be working in shops is when it rains.
Rain in Florida comes and goes. Most of the time it’ll have passed before you even realize it had rained, or you’ll walk down the street and it’ll be raining on one side, but not the other. It’s unpredictable and can catch you by surprise, and doesn’t linger.
But there are days where the clouds just pile up on the horizon and sit there, looking threatening. Of course, nobody but us cast members actually pays attention to these…if it lightning’s, we’ve got to close down anything outside. The guests, however, just keep enjoying their day. They’re in Disney, after all…it’s protected by some sort of magical bubble. There is NO SUCH THING as rain in a Disney park.
Sooner or later, those clouds decide to break, and it pours. That’s the point where the majority of guests in the Disney parks run for cover, hiding under anything they can find, crowding the exits to attractions, dashing towards the park exit to seek shelter in their resort rooms until its over, or simply just ducking into the nearest shop. Only the few wiser ones can keep going about, happy in their ponchos or under their umbrellas.
We don’t mind them taking shelter- don’t blame them in the least. We all shiver and talk about how glad we are that we’re not working out on the carts, getting soaked. The guests hide in our shops, peering out at the rain, glumly, or attempt to act like there’s no bad weather at all, they’re just shopping, that’s all.
But as soon as the rain hits, they’re in there, and a lot of them pile up at the registers. We pull any available cast members off the floor to help us sort out the mess.
How much for ponchos? they inquire.
$7.50 with tax, we respond automatically. We’re well trained. They don’t notice or care, they either hand over the money and get their family covered, or make a face. Really? That much? Ponchos should be free. It’s a sheet of plastic with the Disney logo on it, its pouring rain and my afternoon is ruined! $7.50 with tax. Can I have a bag? Like, the biggest bag you have. There are guests who will walk around in raincoats fashioned from our bags.
How long until the rain stops? a few will ask us. Like we’re the National Weather Service. Like the rain is just one of the attractions, part of the show. All we can do is shake our heads and reply, it’s Florida. Who can tell?
Some people will ask us if they can have discounts on their merchandise, or just a refund in general. It’s Disney, isn’t it? Somehow or other, we’re supposed to have the power to stop the rain for them. We wish we could, but we’re sorry…we can’t. Our magic can only do so much.
After a while, the amount of people who need ponchos dwindles, and we’re left with the customers who use this opportunity to do some shopping. That itself is a mess, with the amount of package pickups and resort deliveries and requests for more bags that we get. We just keep going, though, smiling the entire time. It’s our job, after all. Rain or shine, we’re to be happy and make customers happy…well, try to anyways. No guarantees, with the rain.