I’ve shared this story in a few places before, but I thought it was worth revisiting. Some time ago, I worked at a very popular theme park in Florida as an attraction employee. It was peak season, which meant we were absolutely swamped. Wait times were insane—standby was two hours, single rider was fifty minutes, and even the FastPass line was over an hour. To manage the chaos, we were told to strictly adhere to the time printed on FastPass tickets, allowing people in only at their exact reservation time. Occasionally, when things weren’t as hectic, we’d let guests in five minutes early, but this wasn’t one of those days.
Enter her: A woman in white shorts, a fanny pack, and a sun visor approached the FastPass line with her group, beaming happily. She handed me her ticket, but it was 10 minutes too early. I politely explained the policy and asked her to wait until her scheduled time.
Woman: “Oh, come on! Really?! It’s just a few minutes early!”
Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but we’re extremely busy today. You’ll need to wait until the time printed on your FastPass.”
Woman: “That’s ridiculous! Everyone else let us in a few minutes early!”
She tried to walk past me, but I stepped in her way, still smiling, and asked her to step aside.
Woman: Ugh! 😤
I continued checking tickets, letting guests in as per their scheduled times, while she stood nearby glaring daggers at me. A man in her group tried to calm her down, saying it wasn’t a big deal, but she was clearly fuming.
Three minutes later, she stormed back over and shoved her ticket in my face.
Woman: “Good enough now? Can I go in now?!”
Me (still trying to stay polite): “Ma’am, you still have 7 minutes left. Please step to the side.”
Woman: “You’re joking! Seven minutes?! You’re seriously making me wait SEVEN MINUTES?!”
Me: “Yes, ma’am. Please step aside.”
Another two minutes passed. I kept checking tickets, focusing on hands and not faces, when suddenly, I spotted the same ticket. I looked up, and it was her—again. She still had five minutes left. At this point, I was irritated, and so was she. We just stared at each other for a few seconds. Then, without a word, I used the famous two-finger point to send her back to the waiting area. She stormed off, fuming.
Just then, my coworker K showed up to cover my break. The moment she saw I was leaving, her face lit up with a smug grin. That grin activated my petty mode.
I quickly explained the situation to K and asked him to ensure she didn’t enter a second before her FastPass time. He chuckled and agreed. As I walked away, she sauntered over to K, still grinning arrogantly, and showed him her ticket.
K: “Sorry, ma’am, you’ll have to wait until the exact time printed on your FastPass.”
Woman (face turning red with rage): “DID SHE TELL YOU TO DO THAT?!”
K: “I have to work with her…”
Meanwhile, I stood a few feet away, enjoying the scene, my face the picture of calm, petty satisfaction: 😐
