Ok, I have a rant. It is no ordinary rant. This is a Disney rant of sorts. No, I am not complaining about the millions of people who visit the parks each year, and it does not matter if you are in Japan, France, China, or the United States when you visit the parks. No, it is not the prices, well at least this time. There are ways to save money when visiting Disney, especially Walt Disney World, which I plan on sharing with you in the next few months. It is not even how I am getting there, and where I am staying. Since I mostly focus on the Orlando park, Walt Disney World, I know there are plenty of places to stay, including Disney owned resorts on property, non-Disney own resorts both on and off property, houses around the Walt Disney World area in case you want to visit SeaWorld, Bush Gardens, or Universal Studios Orlando. I will get to all of that in the next few weeks.
No, my rant is about the rant that was heard around the world. Someone asked me on Quora about a mom, who was fed up with childless Millennial couples who visit Walt Disney World each year, or when she visits them. She wants to ban them.The setup….
This woman, who I am going to call, Jane, was visiting Walt Disney World with her son, who was 3 years old. This happened about a couple of years ago. She was in line to get her son a pretzel. The line was quite long, as most Walt Disney World lines are when you have a crowd of people. She’s tired, and so is her son. She gets mad at a millennial who has a pretzel, and instead of ignoring the fact the young lady got a pretzel, Jane gets out of line, with her now screaming 3 years old, and along the way, probably to another ride, preferably to her resort room, gets on social media, and writes to the tune of, “this childless _____ got the last pretzel, and now my child is upset because he did not get his pretzel. These childless millennials need to be banned from Walt Disney World.”
This is not her exact wording, but the meaning is just the same. How does she know if this person did not have a child? She could have gotten the pretzel for her own child, who was waiting. More on that when I gave my answer on Quora.
My answer…
I first read this on Twitter, after a woman reposted it on her Twitter account. I wanted to know why, since she was reading it for the first time since it was originally posted, why the person had to re-tweet it? Sometimes, the best way to keep the peace is to never repeat it, by mouth, or by social media. Social media is the worst because it starts an online war, and this re-post started a “Rant Heard Around the World” (The World? Disney World? Get it?) So this is how I came up with the title of this post by the same name.
This re-post of a post went viral in a big way. Please note: I am not trying to start it again, nor do I want to. I made my peace when I put in my $.02 into it and frankly I am very appalled by the statement. I will have more about that in a moment on how it affects me, a non-millennial, but here is my response after the question resurfaced on Quora:
“Ok, here we go again. Round 4000. I am going to break it down to you like this:
I have a saying…You do You. simple. if you have no problems going to Disney as a Millennial, as a Gen x (which I am), Baby Boomer, War baby (that’s my parents), or one foot in the graver (those over 100 years old), and you have no children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, occasional annoying neighbor’s child (to which their parents should be taking them, but eh), then you have as much right to be at Disney World, Disneyland, Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disney (I do not suggest going there at the moment-They’re having major issues), and Shanghai Disney as a person with children. Simple as that. (you can take a breath now)
But seriously…. No one has the right nor the privilege to tell you where you can spend your hard-earned vacation dollars at. If you like Disney (to which I am a huge fan), then go for it. I read it and I saw the video, and the woman is nuts. She is just a tired person who is used to getting her way as a child. she brings in her 3-year old, who is also tired, and hungry. Disney has enough food to feed the entire island of The Bahamas, and she chooses to be a PITA that day. I would have said to her, that if she would wait, they will bring more out. no use cursing out the person in front of you if the pretzel stand ran out of pretzels. They can and will make more. To call anyone a childless millennial who does not belong at Disney is not her call anyway, it is Disney’s call.
So that is my long way to address the childless problem because she was being childish, and having more of a tantrum than her 3-year old, who probably calmed down after 2 minutes.”
Breaking down my answer…. “You do You”.
I am getting so tired of people poking their noses where they do not belong, especially when it comes to public property. Last I checked, Disney World is public property, not private. When you have private property, you have the right to invite anyone you care to invite.
You do You….
If you are in your right mind, and not a child, you can pretty much run the gambit on what you can do in the world and in this country. That does not mean that it is right. In this country, we do not have a Shreya Law (women must cover their heads or their whole body), we have the right to bear arms, and we have the right to speak our mind. We have opinions in this country, that are just that, opinions. This is where “You do You” comes in. You have the right to do whatever is within the law of this country, moral law, and some good old-fashioned common sense.
Childless Millennials….
This is where Jane got into trouble. She chose to stand in line with her child. This was her choice. I am thinking that this was around 3 pm in the afternoon. She was in the parks (it did not say which one, Disney World has 4 to choose from) and it was hot. Her child was hungry. Most children do get hungry at that time of day, and this is when they also need a nap. Jane saw a young woman, who did not have a child with her. This does not suggest that she did not have any children. They could have been on a ride, getting something to eat, or in another park with another adult. This mother went by what she saw, and that she was tired, her child was tired and hungry, and she was angry because this young woman got a pretzel, which is what her child wanted. After calling the young woman every name in the cursed book she can think of at the time on social media, Jane saw some teens, and assume they were childless too. That is when she decided, not Disney, that any childless couple should be banned from a Disney park.
When did you get to decide? ….
With the comment that Jane made on social media, I had to wonder how did she come to that conclusion? Clearly, the woman did not say anything to her, and neither did the group of teens. At any rate, everyone was minding their own business, except Jane. Oh, I forgot to mention that her child cried as soon as they moved out of line, and the comment she made was “thanks for making my child upset” (enter the childless couple remark). Jane did not have to leave at that moment. I do not know if the pretzel stand ran out of pretzels, and if she made the whole thing up to get out of line.
Disney has plenty of food, and plenty of pretzel stands, so Jane’s child would have gotten his pretzel. So I do not see what the big deal of her getting her child a pretzel at that specific stand. Yes, I have seen Disney run out of food before on several YouTube videos, but most people do not make a big deal out of the situation because they have experience with Disney and crowds. Disney knows how to prepare for such a case. They may not have pretzels when you want them and at that particular stand, but these CM’s (Cast Members AKA employees) are training for such a time as this-crowds.
Who’s crankier, mommy or baby?
Ok, I will admit, I have had my moments where I spoke before I think. I would like to think that she was having an off day. When you find yourself having an off day on vacation, do something that takes you away from the situation (pretzel carts and crowds). Do something pleasant, and I assume that Jane’s family had a resort room. If you do not live around Orlando (or whatever city you are visiting a Disney park), please take a break. Even if you live there, go home, and take a break. Remove yourself from the situation, even if you have to leave with a crying child who only wants to eat something.
Once there, rest, take a nap or do an activity around the resort. There is plenty to do at Disney that does not involve a park, even at the international parks. Once rested, you can resume being in the parks, and enjoying yourself.
Also, one thing to note: Children can take clues from their parents. If you are upset, so is your child. Children at a young age do not know emotion like the rest of us. All they know is they are upset when they see their parent upset. So most likely, the young woman (who I will name Kathy) did not upset the child. Jane was putting the blame where is it did not belong.
Childless part 2
This is the part of the tweet that upsets me the most. Not everyone knows my story, but as hard as I wanted children, I physically cannot have any. That privilege was taken from me at the age of 29 through a medical condition. I have tried to adopt in the past, and I still can, but it is harder to raise a child without a second parent. This is why her rant makes me so angry with Jane for making the comment. I enjoy Disney though the eyes of my nieces and nephews, and my young cousins. To tell me that I cannot go into Disney without a child of my own is the most selfish thing that a person can ever say to me and millions of people like me.
Plus not only that, how is Disney going to enforce this ban? Going back to saying that Disney parks are public property and as long as you follow the rules, you can visit the parks anytime they are open. There are a few exceptions, like punching CMs in the face, carrying a concealed weapon, starting a riot (like carrying political signs or fighting with family members inside the parks), and so on. There is a list, but I do not remember being without a child is one of them.
If you do not know the whole story of a person’s life does not criticize a group of people who may not have any control over what happens in their life. I am blessed to be surrounded by so many nieces and nephews, and friend’s children, who I call my nieces and nephews, it makes it easier for me that if God does not put a child in my path for me to be a foster or adoption parent, I have lived my life surrounded by children. I am a single person who wants to get married to a wonderful man, with or without children, and I am old enough to have step-grandchildren who I can take to Disney. Plus, Disney is not that important to me as my
family is to me. I am not going to let some stressed-out mother tell me what I can or cannot do with my hard-earned money. I am sure these Millennials will not let her either.
So the moral of this story is please remove yourself when you feel stressed to the point that you have to air your frustration on social media. Remain calm, allow others to enjoy their day (including reading social media posts), and enjoy your vacation, and you will not be the subject of someone’s re-tweet.
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