After reading the title of this post you probably think I have this dramatic story about how I escaped the near grips of death due to COVID-19. I don't. I have had an experience pretty similar to that of many Americans. I was living my life, started hearing about this mysterious virus that had the same name as a beer. Then, BAM! The entire world shut down! Okay, so some other things happened in between; but as you can see I clearly have a flair for the dramatics.
My story starts on January 12th. (Yes, I'm aware that January 12th was long before there were any reported cases of the Coronavirus in the U.S.) But on January 12th I moved into my new apartment in Anaheim, CA, and was preparing to start my new job at Disneyland Resort. It was pretty exciting.
Since Disney is one of the largest companies in the world and has a reputation for being the "happiest place on earth," starting a job for the company is no cakewalk. I had several weeks' worth of orientation, company onboarding, and on the job training. This may sound like a chore, but I couldn't have been happier! I love Disney (we can get into my unhealthy obsession later). So, I officially get signed off for work on January 26th. At this point, as a castmember, I already knew about the coronavirus. International parks began to close, and things weren't looking good overseas. Since the domestic parks receive so many international guests, management wanted castmembers to be mindful. We were instructed every day to wash our hands thoroughly and to avoid touching guest's belonging if possible. Easy enough.
From that point on things slowly escalated. We start to hear about cases in the U.S., and Disneyland Paris closed it's doors. I hate to sound like a cynic, but I knew it was only a matter of time for us. Yet, I seemed to be the only one who saw what was coming. In early March, I would share my theories of an impending closer with friends and co-workers, and people thought I was crazy. The looks on their faces said "You don't know what you're talking about," or "Don't you know that Disneyland is invincible?" To their credit, I did come off rather boldly. Especially since Disneyland has only closed its door a handful of times in its history.
I kept my head down as the days went on and then March 12th I got the confirmation I needed. At 11 pm that night, the governor of California instated a ban on gatherings larger than 250 people. (LOL can you believe that number?) When I found this out, I was honestly just waiting to hear the parks were closed. It didn't happen. So I got up Friday the 13th (because nothing bad ever happens on Friday the 13th) and went to work. I was SHOCKED that we were still open. When I expressed my shock my co-worker again looked at me like I was insane. My leader even confidently confirmed that we would definitely be staying open during this pandemic. She was wrong. Ten mins later we (along with the rest of the general public) got the notification that the parks will be shutting down! So while my co-worker struggled to come to an understanding, I was unfazed. I knew that we had to close! Things were getting worse at a rapid rate!
What I didn't see coming was the fact that I was going to be laid-off. Let me explain, Disney did not lay off their staff. I was a participant in the Disney College Program (CP), which is a paid internship through the Walt Disney Company. Since noone knew how long the parks were going to be shut down, and internships and college across the country were closing Disney decided to suspend the program.
I was, of course, hurt by the news. I know there are so many CPs who would disagree with me, but I think Disney made the right decision. Especially now knowing the shut down was going to last far longer than the two weeks we anticipated. Could Disney had have handled this differently? Possibly, but I would go back in a heartbeat.
So now I'm unemployed, living at home, and terrified to go leave my house without a mask. Do you see why my title is so dramatic? My life looks a lot different than I planned it would, and somedays I'm really bummed about it. But everything happens for a reason, so bring on whatever's next. I'm ready!