Guests that make you cry, chefs that don't lie and shoes to go buy!

Well, here we are in May. Time seems to be snowballing now. Everytime I notice the date, it shocks me. I've never known time to go so fast before.

I've had a couple of really amazing shifts recently. The first one was the ultimate tearjerker. I was serving my section as normal and there was a cute little girl on my table called Chloe. She was amazing. She was ultra polite and kept calling me "Miss Tori". As it was near firework time, I went to Emma who was on magic moment and did something I've never done before. I asked for one of my tables to be chosen.

I guess before I go further, I should explain Magical Moment. This happens each night in the Rose and Crown. The podium staff select a child and give them the Mickey wand and that child "starts" the fireworks by pointing the wand at the right time. Due to our familiarity with Illuminations, we can make a pretty convincing show of the child directing them. The podium staff always get to choose and if they pick your table, you're lucky. Asking for your table to be included is frowned upon as it increases your tips and money is not a good reason for doing Magical Moment. I wasn't after extra tips, I just had a seriously cute little girl who I felt deserved to be made a fuss of. Luckily, Emma was understanding, she knows I've never asked for my guests to be chosen before.

Anyway, the end of this story means Chloe started the fireworks. Emma and her trainee, Alex, took the whole family down to lower deck and apparantly the mother and grandmother were in tears watching Chloe excitedly starting the fireworks. At the end of the firework show, Chloe's father came and found me. I was cleaning my section but he stopped me and with tears in his eyes told me he'd had the most magical night of his life. He's been in Iraq for the last year and has been away from his family. Seeing Chloe so happy made his night and he was so grateful for what we'd done for her. He was crying by the end of it and so was I. It was such a small thing for me to have done but it made the night for his family. I hugged him as he thanked me and had to go away into the kitchen for a few minutes until I was under control again .

A few days later during pre-shift (the meeting before the start of the shift), our manager Alisha read out a positive guest letter. It was about me. It said I was "friendly, genuine and quite entertaining. She made the evening even more enjoyable for us". I got a copy of the letter and a special pin (badge). It's always nice to be recognised.

Things at the Rose and Crown and finally beginning to settle after the loss of Rachid and Chef Christian. Our new chef, Nick is a definate improvement. He has been asking the opinion of the staff as to what to include on the menu which is something Chef Christian (AKA The Demi-God) never did. Plus, Chef Nick will cheerfully hear us out if we say something is disgusting and he'll ask how it can be improved. Chef Christian would just yell at you.

Our new manager, Christina is not such an improvement. First of all, we barely see her but when she does come into the UK, she pisses everyone off. There is something called "Disney Look" which is a standard of cleanliness and uniformity that we have to adhere to. No tattoos, no beards (damn, and mine was so long!), girls hair tied back, even acceptable and unacceptable sideburns!!! Christina seems to be obsessed with Disney Look and I am now being told that the shoes I have been using for work for the past ten months are now unacceptable. Well, actually, they're not too sure. All I've been told so far is they "might be unacceptable". That was a week ago and we've heard nothing back yet. I do not want to buy a new pair of work shoes for the sake of two months. Especially when there's nothing wrong with the ones I have!

On my day off this week, I spent some time by the pool here at the Commons. I met a couple of UK guys who turned out to be the newbies. As they don't have their Disney ID's yet, I offered to get them into MK for the evening so I could show them around. It ended up being a really fun night. One of the guys (Dave) was a DV (Disney Virgin). Showing MK to a DV was amazing, it was like seeing it for the first time all over again. Dave seemed to like it too. We stayed to see Wishes as well and it was just a fun night.

The following day, I returned to the pool. I was in the water the whole time but a few hours after getting out, I was in severe pain. Somehow (God only knows how!), I've burnt my knees and my shoulders. It's really painful and I feel sorry for Vikki as all she's heard recently is "Ow! Ow! Ow!" everytime I've turned over in bed or stood up or, you know, breathed! Still, it'll heal soon.

Well, that's all I've got to report for now. I'll update again soon.