Let’s just face it, I am not gonna update this as often as I used to in the US. It is a shame, but with no time, there is not much to do about it.
I have lots of things I want to write about, and for the best reading experience for you guys, I will start with something not very happy and then end with something happy. Something is weighing on my shoulders and I feel a very big need of writing it down so I can let go of it. It is not exactly a big deal, but it is something I shouldn’t have to deal with when the only thing I am doing is doing my job. But I guess dealing with upset and angry people is what to expect when working in the service industry. I understand that we are all humans, have feelings and have better or worse days. Today was honestly the best day I have had at work since I started on July 1st. Not because of anything special, but because I felt happy and energetic, woke up on the right side. No idea why (maybe because my sweet boyfriend called me to wake me up this morning, he is up north to compete in the Swedish Championship in track and field, he is high jumping tomorrow, I send all my wishes of good luck to him), but it was just a good day, and sometimes I have bad days for no particular reason too. I think this lady at Helix today had a bad day, and she let it all out over a colleague of mine and me. She was of a bigger size and everyone knows that Helix is very sensitive and even people who you would normally not think of as bigger can’t go on the normal seats and have to sit in the last two seats because they are bigger. We who work there are always very sensitive when we tell the guests that we can’t get the restraint in the right position and that they can wait for the next train and sit in the back. Most people are understanding and even joke about how fat they are. Which honestly makes me a little uncomfortable but better that than them yelling at me. And that’s what happened today. She was even too big for the seats in the back and before my colleague could even try to push the restraint down to the right position, she started telling him how bad at his job he was and that he was very insensitive about the whole situation. Which of course he wasn’t, he did exactly as he was supposed to, he has worked at Liseberg for many years and know how to talk to guests and handle difficult situations. They had to go to the side and they kept talking. After a while he left to go talk to our supervisors (I am not sure exactly what they said, so I am not completely sure why she was upset). We rotated on the station (so we don’t just check restraints on one side for a full 30 minutes or an hour, to prevent injuries), I was happy as I had been all day so far, when I was done with my five restraints I walked to the exit and gave signal for the operator to send the train away. And out of nowhere she starts yelling at me. I was so shocked at first I didn’t know what to say. I asked her why she took this out on me and she replied that I started it. She kept telling me that we all did a horrible job and that we should handle situations like these better and that we represents Liseberg. I then told her that she represents the guests at Liseberg, she was quiet for a few seconds, shocked I guess. Then kept going on and on, told me that we didn’t want to deal with her and just left her. I of course tried to defend myself and told her that my colleague was up on the phone and that we treat every guests well. And when she still wouldn’t let me be I told her straight up (because there was no way to reason with her) that I didn’t want to just stand there and take the shit she unprovokedly threw at me, and then walked away.
I am sure she was embarrassed, because everyone on the station can see when we have to move these bigger people around. But I don’t understand why she has to make an even bigger deal about it and make us feel bad? I honestly was just seconds away from crying when I walked away. We are doing the best we can and frankly, we are all doing an amazing job. Working at an amusement park with guests is hard. We are there for them, safety comes first and guests happiness a close second. I wish the guests would understand that most of the things that happen aren’t our faults, that we are just the people between. Don’t shoot the messenger kind of.
I have had a lot of uncomfortable situations with guests lately, for example when they are missing the right bracelets to go on the ride or when kids are too short and the parents blame me when the kids have gone on the ride before, even though there are several centimeters missing.
I have to say that I am getting better at handling situations like these unless I feel threatened. But when I know that I am right, I feel like I get authority and eventually they listen. Today was an exception, I got hurt, my feelings got hurt, and I just wanted to leave. I am sad to say that a very similar situation happened during the last hour at Helix too. Fortunately I wasn’t the victim, but another girl I work with got yelled at pretty badly by another guest who had some unrealistic demands. I knew that these situations would come up when I accepted this job, and most of the time it is okay. Today got out of hand though…
On a better note, that didn’t ruin my day, it ruined the rest of that half hour, but I was almost as happy on the next attraction as before.
This is becoming a very long post, but it feels good to get rid of these feelings. I had half an hour set aside today to talk to one of my supervisors about my feelings about this job and so on. She told me that the group of supervisors think of me as very stable and a safe employee, that it feels like I have been working at Liseberg forever. Hearing that made me so happy!
Now I feel done with work-related things. On Monday Jesper had his birthday, unfortunately he was working the whole day but we met up with his mom and youngest sister for dinner. It was good to finally meet them and they were both very nice. The day after we met up with his dad and his younger brother, who is only 11 months, and seriously the cutest baby ever. That was also a very nice afternoon. And later that evening Jesper and I took mom’s car and drove to Ramberget where we sat for a while with a small picnic and watched out over Gothenburg. That was our day off together. It really is too bad we are both working so much. But I think from this week and forward we are not working as much.
I am too tired to try and find the pictures that correlate to this post on my phone so I will post them tomorrow. Now it is high time to go to bed. 11 hours at work. You could say that I am tired…
Bemm 