Pixie Dust Pins

Some Guests (and hopefully all Cast Members) are familiar with Pixie Dust Pins. They're a little pack of two Tinkerbell pins, and they're designed to be handed out to Guests who are displaying Disney goodness to other Guests, or to Cast Members.

Naturally, you never have them when you need them.

I spoke to a wonderful Guest today, and he didn't strike me as the pin-trading type, so he probably doesn't feel all that affected by the loss of potential Tinkerbell pins. Nonetheless, he deserved Pixie Dust Pins, I didn't have any, and I apologize to him. Shame on me.

I was late for lunch. I was crossing Liberty Square to go to lunch when I saw a man with a fabulous hat. It was like the English hat I used to wear that everyone said made me look like a jockey. You know, one of those flat tweed jobs.. only this wasn't tweed, but a much finer thread, and it had a little, subtle braid of embroidery above the brim if you looked carefully. I loved it. I coveted it.

I went up and told him he had a great hat and asked if he'd gotten it nearby. After all, if it was from Epcot, it was fair game for Christmas.

"No," he said, "It's a Greek fisherman's cap."

Now that I think about it, he didn't really answer the question. Unless it was from Greece and he was subtly trying to avoid sayiing something boastful like "I got this on my fabulous trip to Greece." Which I appreciate, although it's not necessary. I'm not that sensitive. Anyway, I was distracted from the hat. "Oh!" I said. "Have you ever been to Tarpon Springs?"

"No," he said thoughtfully. "I don't think so. Is that near Tampa?"

"Yes," I said. "Great food." I pointed to his camera, which he had been aiming at the Christmas shop when I interrupted. "Would you like to be IN one of your pictures?"

He laughed. "Oh no, thank you. I'm really just interested in the architecture."

Wow. Talk about a cool guy. Lunch was instantly forgotten. I asked him if he'd ever picked up The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom, and he said he'd thought he seen it. I dove whole-heartedly into the architectural details of Liberty Square, pointing out the Dutch architecture closest to the castle (Sleepy Hollow) and the more rustic, nineteenth century look moving towards Frontierland, as well as the plaster/timber of Columbia Harbour House as you move into Fantasy. He was great. He listened, he made thoughtful comments, he made me feel like a million dollars. I was grinning when I finally headed down to lunch. My co-workers just shook their head when I'd said I'd been talking to a Guest and got distracted. That's what I always say.

I can't think of anyone who deserves a Pixie Dust Pin more than someone who makes ME feel special. We spend our days making Guests feel special. We go to classes on making Guests feel special. And we feel amazing when we do it. We do good things. We make a difference to people. But when they, the Guests in our home, drop what they're doing to make us feel good, effectively turning the relationship around, that's the biggest thank-you. And it's enough to get through any number of rough days.

There's someone out there named St. Chris. He and his party made the amazing gesture of giving myself and another Cast Member cards thanking us for our pixie dusting. This nearly reduced me to tears. Not the unprecedented act of appreciation, necessarily, but just the knowledge that I'm doing it. I'm living up to Walt, at least for the moment.

I just have to remember to grab my Pixie Dust pins in the morning.

A certain sense of... something

Is it nostalgia, or imagined memories, when you walk down Main Street and see the holiday decorations strung across the street? My first statement, unguarded and uncynical, was, "It looks just like my hometown at Christmas!" Then I paused, thought about it. "I guess that's the point, huh."

Everything is just in its place, just where you'd expect it to be. The wooden Indian is exactly where he belongs, in front of Market House (he's also in front of the Prairie Outpost and Supply in Frontierland) on Main Street U.S.A., and I know he belongs there because I've seen enough movies, not because I've ever actually seen a wooden Indian. (Or have I? Who can say?) The flag is fluttering in Town Square, and hey, there's a band playing patriotic music and kids waving American flags, so I guess it's the Fourth of July, just like I remember it from back north... do I? Or was that a book? Close enough.

Cultural memory is good enough, I think. These days it's probably better than reality. Main Street U.S.A. retains its sentimental value even though fewer and fewer people come from a small town with a Main Street, a town square, and a city hall... well, one that they've been to outside of the time they forgot to renew their driver's license online, anyway.