Sunnys Days Of Disney: disney

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Saturday, August 13, 2016

So. Transportation. A completely different ball field than recreation. I have no clue what I'm getting myself into here, but then, do we ever?

Day 1, I have Fred for my trainer, and Julia shadowing him. Fred is absolutely hysterical, and I am so glad I had him for my first day. Julia is a sweetheart, just a few months older than me instead of the few decades most of my coworkers are. Going into watercraft I was warned that most of my coworkers would be older gentlemen who had retired and are doing this for fun. Those people weren't wrong. It's amazing how much more relaxed they are [so long as you're able to do your job].

On day 1, we drove around on a pargo, going to each of our docks. We started at Port Orleans Riverside, then French Quarter, before heading over to Old Key West. From there we went to Saratoga Springs and Disney Springs. Disney Springs has 3 docks; Marketplace, The Landing, and Westside. We rode a water taxi around the lake to visit each of them, before heading back to dry dock taking our own boat out. I got to drive that for a little while, and then I also got to drive the Whaler. It was awesome, and much, much faster than our flat bottom boats. We spent a while reading the OG, and then... it stormed. Huge storms that shut everything down. So we sat and watched the Olympics for a while. Sounds good, huh?

Day 2 I still had Julia, but I also had a new trainer, Eric. Day 2 was a good day. I got to drive the boat. All. Day. I took to it, and things seemed to be going well. I docked the boat a few times, did okay at that, and learned how to go through the bridges [and which are the trickiest].

Day 3 was the problem. I was exhausted from 7:30 start times, my trainers were getting used to me doing well and seemed to expect me to be perfect. Other trainers on the water would say "man, you're doing great. You're going to be fine." and Eric would shoot back with "Yeah, she's going to be okay, but she's still relying on coaching." to which the other trainers would reply that that was normal for someone on their day 3, and that I was still ahead of most people.

From there it just got worse. my trainer would say something at the exact moment he wanted me to respond, and then get frustrated when it wasn't done before he had finished his statement. He would repeat what he wanted me to do five or six times in a row, getting louder each time he said something. He would stand behind me and breathe down my neck before all of a sudden sticking his hand in my face and knocking into me as he yelled directions. I left that day feeling frustrated and like there was no possible way I would be able to do it.

Day 4 seemed to go better to me. I got yelled at less for screwing up, and was able to get myself docked by myself a couple of times, even if that meant correcting. I carried boat fulls of guests up and down the river all day, and finally got lots of guest interaction. Eric and I seemed to have found a middle ground and things worked.

I also had my one on one with the manager, which they always do on day 4. I left that meeting a little less sure of myself, but I'm not going to let that get to me. I hate that I have these trainers that tell me I'm doing better than most people and "I promise I wouldn't just say that" and then slip every once in a while and let me know how frustrated they are with me. Especially since they told my manager that I'm struggling and having a hard time. Why tell me I'm doing better than most if I'm not. I thought I was doing great, considering I still have 3 more days of training. I'm starting to get frustrated, so I'm glad I have a few days off from Sassagoula. I'm just going to go back to doing what I know I'm really good at for a couple days before I go back. I'm bound and determined to make this work.