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The other night I was in charge of the VIP seating for our special summer night time show. Guests who purchase the VIP package are entitled to a reserved section of seating (honestly the best seats in the house), cushions for their comfort, and a special dessert box to enjoy during the show. It's a pretty easy shift. I'm basically there to set down the cushions, guard the section, check the VIP tickets, and communicate with the culinary representative to make sure the guests receive their snacks.
Unfortunately the way this shift is set up is that we are off just 10 minutes after the show is over. This gives us very little time to collect the cushions and transfer them back across the park, which can be problematic because some guests just love to linger around in the stadium after the show.
Usually there are two of us but I was flying solo that night and on an even stricter time crunch so during the show I decided to collect any unused cushions on the outer edges of the section and place in the bins to save a few seconds later. There was a family of seven seated in the section and the father saw what I was doing so he grabbed a couple cushions near him that I couldn't get to and handed them to me. I thought that was awfully nice but I was afraid it might be a sign that I was distracting him from the show so I decided to stop.
Once the show was over and guests started filtering out I grabbed their cushions almost as soon as they left. I didn't want anyone to feel rushed to leave so I was trying to do this as subtly as possible. Once a row had cleared out I would wish them a wonderful night thenI would go and put the cushions in a stack that I could easily transport to the bins later.
The family was still there but noticed what I was doing so they passed down their cushions, adding them to the stack as they went along. The father then handed the stack over to me.
It was such a simple gesture but it meant the world to me. They saw that I was trying to do my job and decided to help me out.
But it didn't end there.
I was busy gathering the cushions and placing the stacks all together when I looked over at the family. All seven of them (including the young children) were leaning back to the rows behind them and bending down to the rows in front of them, gathering and stacking the cushions for me. They were there to have a good time but they still went out of their way to help me out when they saw I was trying to get something done.
With every stack they handed over to me my thank yous became gushier. I actually started getting a little choked up by the kindness this family was showing me. At one point the father even said "We're happy to help, brother". Gathering and stacking cushions isn't a particularly difficult task for me and I certainly wouldn't have thought negatively of this family even if they hadn't gone the extra mile to help me but it was wonderful to be treated like a human who deserves respect. So many guests seem to forget that the people who work here are in fact human beings. They leave their trash everywhere, they treat us like slaves, and they shout and talk down to us for any little reason that crosses their mind. But this one family made me feel like I was a part of their own.
It should also be noted that they even fought through the ick factor of picking up these cushions. Who knows what kind of bottoms had been sitting on them, and many of cushions are inexplicably wet by the end of the show. Usually I just try not to think about it and then drown my hands in Purell as soon as I'm done.
I really wish I wasn't on so much of a time crunch because I'd have loved to have gotten their information and see if I could arrange to have some goodies or possibly even free passes sent their way.
I know it sounds like I'm making a big deal out of nothing but this one small display of kindness had a tremendous impact on me and I just wanted to share.
Unfortunately the way this shift is set up is that we are off just 10 minutes after the show is over. This gives us very little time to collect the cushions and transfer them back across the park, which can be problematic because some guests just love to linger around in the stadium after the show.
Usually there are two of us but I was flying solo that night and on an even stricter time crunch so during the show I decided to collect any unused cushions on the outer edges of the section and place in the bins to save a few seconds later. There was a family of seven seated in the section and the father saw what I was doing so he grabbed a couple cushions near him that I couldn't get to and handed them to me. I thought that was awfully nice but I was afraid it might be a sign that I was distracting him from the show so I decided to stop.
Once the show was over and guests started filtering out I grabbed their cushions almost as soon as they left. I didn't want anyone to feel rushed to leave so I was trying to do this as subtly as possible. Once a row had cleared out I would wish them a wonderful night thenI would go and put the cushions in a stack that I could easily transport to the bins later.
The family was still there but noticed what I was doing so they passed down their cushions, adding them to the stack as they went along. The father then handed the stack over to me.
It was such a simple gesture but it meant the world to me. They saw that I was trying to do my job and decided to help me out.
But it didn't end there.
I was busy gathering the cushions and placing the stacks all together when I looked over at the family. All seven of them (including the young children) were leaning back to the rows behind them and bending down to the rows in front of them, gathering and stacking the cushions for me. They were there to have a good time but they still went out of their way to help me out when they saw I was trying to get something done.
With every stack they handed over to me my thank yous became gushier. I actually started getting a little choked up by the kindness this family was showing me. At one point the father even said "We're happy to help, brother". Gathering and stacking cushions isn't a particularly difficult task for me and I certainly wouldn't have thought negatively of this family even if they hadn't gone the extra mile to help me but it was wonderful to be treated like a human who deserves respect. So many guests seem to forget that the people who work here are in fact human beings. They leave their trash everywhere, they treat us like slaves, and they shout and talk down to us for any little reason that crosses their mind. But this one family made me feel like I was a part of their own.
It should also be noted that they even fought through the ick factor of picking up these cushions. Who knows what kind of bottoms had been sitting on them, and many of cushions are inexplicably wet by the end of the show. Usually I just try not to think about it and then drown my hands in Purell as soon as I'm done.
I really wish I wasn't on so much of a time crunch because I'd have loved to have gotten their information and see if I could arrange to have some goodies or possibly even free passes sent their way.
I know it sounds like I'm making a big deal out of nothing but this one small display of kindness had a tremendous impact on me and I just wanted to share.
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