Today’s article was supposed to be another entry in the wedding series. I was also supposed to be at work today, and going to MegaCon on Friday. A lot of things were supposed to be happening that are not due to the shutdown. So, I thought I would take a break from the usual and talk about what it’s actually like living in Orlando right now. Pretty much everyone I know in Orlando works in hospitality in one form or another. We call it theme park life. Most of my friends work for the Walt Disney Company, my best friend works for Universal, and my husband (man, finally getting to say that is cool and a little weird) is both a Cast Member and a shop steward for the Disney Union.
At this point, the world knows Walt Disney World Cast Members are being furloughed on April 19th as a result of the shutdown. Originally it was “non-union” workers, and now it has been announced the union cast are being furloughed as well. Jay’s phone has been blowing up non-stop since this started. On April 2nd, when the first furlough announcement came, he got messages and calls from SIXTY-SEVEN DIFFERENT PEOPLE. Every post Inside the Magic, WDW News Today, Disney Food Blog, and all the other big sites have made about this has caused nothing but trouble and stress for shop stewards and the cast they represent. I’ve also been laughing my head off at almost every single one I’ve read because the headlines rarely have anything to do with what’s actually happening.
As I write this, it’s been about an hour since the furlough of unionized Cast Members has been announced. I don’t expect to get spend much time with Jay today. He’s been downstairs fielding phone calls and texts since the final negotiation meeting ended and he could leave his computer. I’m reaching out to some of our friends to answer what questions I can. I also put together a list of the basic things you need to file for Unemployment in Florida, just to speed up how fast we could answer questions.
I don’t know many people who are from the state of Florida. The theme park life is one we all chose. I come from Tennessee, Jay comes from Italy. Our friends come from Oregon, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, Connecticut, Illinois, and a dozen other places I’m forgetting. We all moved here to work in these parks, and to be able to go to these parks when we’re not working. Now we can’t do either. But what’s worse is we can’t be together. My parents are in Tennessee, my brother is in South Carolina, but now I’m cut off from my Florida family too.
So, we’re collectively drowning. We’re coping with DIY projects, baking, and dying our hair. We’re bracing for a hurricane that we have no idea when it’s going to hit, or what Orlando is going to look like when it does, or when the shutdown ends.
While yes, it’s that way for the rest of the country, we have the added uncertainty of not knowing what our jobs will look like when we get back to them. 9-5 office jobs are going to go back to being 9-5 office jobs after the shutdown. Are the parks going to be slammed, or are they going to be ghost towns? Are people going to want to travel? Can they afford it? Will the parks have the staffing they need? Will they have to change the way they operate? No one knows! I have some educated guesses, and I’m sure lots of people have opinions on what should happen, but until we get there, we have no idea what reopening day is going to look like. We have no idea what our schedules will look like. We have no idea what attendance is going to look like. I make most of my money on my commission; my tour guide friends make their money on their tips. Are people going to have money to spend on the extras when they’re here? These are all things we can’t plan for that are hanging over our head.
So, you try to make the most of your down time during the shutdown. You work on projects and watch TV shows you’ve always wanted to watch, but then you feel guilty on the days where you didn’t get anything done because you’re too stressed.
You start crying during a movie, and then you’re still crying an hour later because you just can’t stop.
Jay and I are some of the lucky ones. We’re a two-income family, and we’re both full time. We don’t have kids, just a dog, a cat, and a whole lot of Duffy Bears. I actually need to recount them since I rescued two more recently. We own our house instead of renting, and our mortgage company is offering a three-month payment freeze due to the shutdown. Ours hasn’t actually been approved yet, but I expect to hear by the end of this week. We only have one car payment, and a four-month freeze has been granted on that. So even if I end up getting furloughed as well, we should able to float until the unemployment checks come in. If this shutdown goes past July, it’s going to be a very different story when the stimulus package runs out and Florida unemployment goes back down to $275.
We’re the lucky ones.
Most of my friends have room mates, so for better or for worse, they’re riding this out together. While that’s not a combined income, they have multiple people splitting the bills. I was able to request a mortgage freeze. The people I know who own their homes is a very short list. Most everyone in Orlando rents. My best friend lives alone with her dog, and she’s the toughest person I know, but I can’t imagine how hard that is. Both financially and emotionally. We talk all the time, but I know it doesn’t help enough. I live with my favorite person, my second favorite dog, and my favorite cat, and I still feel alone sometimes. I’m also pretty sure the cat is ready for me to go back to work. We’re all trying to check on each other, and make sure everybody’s okay, and feeling connected, but there’s only so much we can do.
We started the #StayAtHomeMovieClub, where we all watch the same movie on the same day, without worrying about if we’re watching it at the same time or not. It’s not much, but so far it’s proving fun.
