I Would Have Done It Another Way
Apr 17
A week ago, I had an unsettling encounter with Disney Security at Downtown Disney. After thinking about it for a day, I decided to share the story on my photography blog. The story gathered a lot of attention, at least in comparison to most of my posts. As a result, I received a lot of comments on the blog, in comments on other blogs that carried the story, and on various message boards where the discussion seemed pertinent.
Thus began a series of Monday Morning Quarterbacks. Don’t misunderstand me, I think a majority of the people who reached out to leave a comment on my blog were very supportive or interested in details of the incident. The same is mostly true of comments on the other blogs. It’s the discussion boards where the majority of interesting opinions came about.
One of the first things I noticed is that the people who were most vocal in their opposition to the route I took seemed to be the ones who had done the least bit of research of thinking about the issue. I doubt many of them even read my whole post, because the answer to their questions was contained right there.
I found it amusing to look at the photographs of one person who said my pictures suck. I could understand his position; art is subjective. Then I looked at his photos – mostly tourist snapshots with little thought about composition or light. I had plenty of shots like that, too. It’s just that I don’t go telling other people they suck when I don’t have something better to hold up as an example.
Another group of people blamed me for shaming Disney. In their opinion, I shouldn’t have written about the harassment I received by a Disney Security Manager. I should have just complained to Disney and they would send me an autographed picture of Mickey Mouse. I replied that Don was the one who shamed Disney, not me. It didn’t take. The guy just responded with a note that Don didn’t put it on the Internet. No, he didn’t (as far as I know). Instead, he just harassed a guest and humiliated him in public. He’s as accountable for his own actions as any of us. Had he given me some great support while I was there, the blog post may have been very different. It’s not the post on the Internet that reflects poorly on Disney. It’s the castmember’s actions that are to blame.
I understand that many people would have done things differently. That’s fine. When they get hassled by an overzealous security guard, let them act as they wish. They can hand over their ID to someone who is going to use it to their detriment. They can let a bully walk on them like a doormat. They may also get indignant and start ranting. Many people told me, “I would have done it another way.” Good for them. I made my own choice and have no regrets.
“Another group of people blamed me for shaming Disney. In their opinion, I shouldn’t have written about the harassment I received by a Disney Security Manager. I should have just complained to Disney and they would send me an autographed picture of Mickey Mouse.”
William, that is a gross misrepresentation of the exchanges you had with members on the Disboards Photography forum. For those of you that wish to read the exchanges in question go to: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2442922
1) No one “blamed” you for shaming Disney. Many of us merely said that we felt that there was a likely BETTER way to handle the situation that may increase your odds of a satisfactory outcome for you.
2) We also NEVER said that you shouldn’t go “public” about your encounter. We said that a BETTER approach would have been to work with Disney’s Guest Relations staff FIRST before blasting Disney, or Don, in the blogosphere. One DIS’er summed it up this way by asking you to ask the same law enforcement friends who you consulted about this situation: “If a citizen had an issue with a police officer, would they prefer the citizen call or email the station and tell the officer in charge about the issue, or would they prefer the citizen call the local newspaper, and TV stations, before bringing the problem to the attention of the police dept.?” No one suggested that you only “just” write to Disney, as you claimed.
3) The autographed photo of Mickey comment was a “throw away” comment, which you then mocked, made by a DIS member who said that he had followed the approach of working with Disney FIRST when he had a problem during a 2006 visit. He said that Guest Relations called him personally after he wrote them, he had a good 30 minute discussion with the Disney rep., and was thanked for bringing the situation to their attention… as an aside, the poster mentioned that they also later sent him the aforementioned Mickey photo.
I understand that you generally researched the issue of how to best demand satisfaction from a company that you feel has wronged you. However, in the group that you’ve dismissed you have a group of people that have a collectively large knowledge base of how Disney works. We all agreed, IIRC, that you have a legitimate beef with Disney security over the incident, we pretty much all agreed that you had a right not to show your ID… and we pretty much all felt that you should have played your hand better. You’re right, those are opinions that may differ from yours. I’m sorry that you felt “taunted” by most of us, or “attacked” on that site, or anything else for us expressing those contrary opinions and engaging you in debate. Oh, and I did read your posts in their entirety.
In closing, I only hope that your written details of the encounter with Don & Co. are a better representation of the facts than how your encounter with me, and the others, on the Disboards have been portrayed here by you.
I didn’t mention you, the board, or anyone else by name. While I appreciate your comments here, I can’t agree with them and I don’t believe that I’ve engaged in a gross misrepresentation. I shared my perceptions. Contrary to your statement, I was “blamed” because “Don didn’t take it to the Internet.” That comment was meant to infer it’s my fault if Disney gets a bad rap for the encounter – not because Don initiated it, but because I discussed it in a public manner.
William, you weren’t referring to us? Come now… There were other “groups” that suggested that you would have been better served by talking to Disney first and brought up the subject of Disney sending out auto’ed Mickey photos during the discussions??? I’m not going to argue semantics with you. People can follow the link and draw their own conclusions whether or not we’re the “group” in question and if your descriptions of what we said is an accurate representation.
I also find it odd that you take such issue with “groups” that are in fact hoping that you DO in fact prevail in your complaint with Don’s actions. This is the last time I’ll bother you here. I and others will be watching for updates as they happen. Good luck, and happy shooting!
I visited a number of message boards and comments on other blogs. People had various suggestions on what they would have done vs. what I did. The only difference is that I was the only one who was there (aside from Disney Security). I’ve received some very good suggestions and some that quite simply don’t make sense to me. For example, the most common response was “you could’ve avoided the whole thing if you just showed your ID”, or some words to that effect. Those are the folks who make me wonder if they even read what I wrote.
I’m not sure why you felt the need to defend a board that I didn’t mention. It wasn’t my intention to call out members of any community at all, but rather, to give some perspective on the comments I’ve received. At the end of the day, I did it my way (apologies to Frank & Elvis).