FROM: Amber Earns Her Ears Published Mondays

Amber Finds a Friend Over French Fries

Now fully indoctrinated into Disney's CareerStart Program, Amber begins work at the Electric Umbrella in Epcot where one day she makes a new friend through circumstances unusual even by Disney standards: fallen French fries.

- Amber Sewell, April 11 2011

"Excuse me, but these French fries fell over."

"Oh, no! Ah, I'm sorry! Here, let me fix them!"

"Oh, it's fine! Thank you!"

Thus began a beautiful friendship.

Amber Is Anxious

Before I left for Disney, I had a momentary night of panic. I worried that everyone else had enrolled in the CareerStart and College Programs for the wrong reasons. I imagined they were all going to party, escape school for a while, use Disney as an excuse to live in Florida for six months.

I saw potential friends in none of those groups.

My fears were initially allayed when I met my roommates, wonderful girls who were there searching for their dream jobs. Our parties extended to dinner parties and trips to the parks for nice meals.

But the fact that three of the people I'd met so far didn't fit into that less-than-devoted Cast Member category didn't mean that everyone else wasn't exactly as I feared.

For the first two months of working at the Electric Umbrella, I was the quiet one. I didn't talk to many people, I worked hard, and then I went home. I chatted with only one of my trainers from the first week, and would try (and usually fail) to initiate conversation wherever I was stationed.

So I watched with a little jealousy as others who had been there longer communicated easily with each other, jesting and goofing off all day. But as much as I wanted to join in the fun, I am the reserved one. I don't typically go out of my way to initiate conversation; I'm bad at making small talk. But for the rest of you shy people out there, there is hope.

One day, out on filler, one of the trays had had its French fries knocked over. As fillers, you aren't allowed to touch the food. You have to get the attention of the person at window (scooping fries), and they have to fix it for you.

For Cast Members still earning their ears, asking anything from someone on the line can be intimidating. Fillers can be heard grousing to each other that the person on window is being hateful or ignoring them. I myself had several occasions where I stood a little uneasily, trying repeatedly to get the attention of someone inside, to no avail.

This illusion of hostility carries on until you actually work on the line yourself. Not everyone inside is grouchy; they just honestly can't hear you, or they have a big order they're trying to fill, or sometimes the filler is at fault.

But that day, I still hadn't done much inside, and it was lovely to hear someone cheerful on the other side of the window.

Amber Meets Betty

Betty was the first real friend that I made at the Electric Umbrella. With her energetic personality, her habit of switching to Spanish spoken far too rapidly for anyone to understand, and her enthusiastic concern for the well-being of all of her friends, she was exactly the kind of person that I needed to help me merge into the social world.

Now, anytime I used the phrase "it's fine", she perks up and instantly begins to recount one of her favorite stories about the nice, quiet filler whom she persuaded to go out one night with some of her other friends from work.

As I was the youngest person on the program, Betty assumed a protective role, almost. She looked out for me in almost every aspect: was I having fun, was I eating enough, was I working too hard, did I need another shift. Betty was on top of it all.

One day I had forgotten to bring my lunch, and went (out of Costume, of course) to buy some lunch from at the counter. Betty was working register. Naturally, I went to her so I could chat some, since we were slow. As soon as she saw me, her face changed.

"You cannot buy anything today, mi amiga del alma."

"But, Betty, I forgot my lunch! I need to eat something."

"Ah, but your mami knew you would forget. Go and look in my cooler; I made lunches for you and Em. Yours is the one with meat on it. Put it in the microwave for forty seconds, until the cheese melts."

Amber Fits In

In one aspect, I am sad that it took me so long to become comfortable with the people I worked with, because they really are an amazing group. One girl from Australia was singing a Kate Nash song in the kitchen. I commented on it, and the next day I had a piece of paper covered - front and back - with bands, and their best two songs. Rides were traded, days were spent in the park, and I became known as the girl who brought a book with her everywhere - including all social outings.

I also found that being a Cast Member made it easier to initiate conversation with complete strangers. I would often go to the parks by myself - EPCOT to grab a cone of lemon gelato, Magic Kingdom to see Philharmagic (my absolute favorite in that park) - and would find myself in conversation with a fellow Cast Member on their day off, hanging around the parks with their mother, or with a Guest who had brought her children to Disney World for the first time.

There are a lot of benefits that people speak about when trying to recruit members for the program. For those of you who, like me, find that socialization doesn't come very easily, or who are usually just too shy to assert yourself, this program really can do wonders. I'm not saying that it makes you a crazy outgoing person, bounding up to strangers and introducing yourself. But it takes away some of the anxiety that social situations can bring.

Plus, it never hurts to make some new friends.

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