I'm currently reading a book which takes place at Disneyland. It's actually the fifth book in a mystery series I've been enjoying. But this book has caused me to reflect back on an event from my past. In the book one of the main characters is a Disneyland employee. He is a ride operator on the Canoes attraction. The other main character is Swiss pop star, Malaysia Hosner. She is in the United States for the first time on a concert tour. While she is here, she wants to visit Disneyland for the first time.
Before I go any further, let me say that I will not be giving away any details that would ruin the book for you in case you have intentions of reading it. Now that that's out of the way, here's the skinny. Malaysia Hosner and her sister decide to go to Disneyland while in Anaheim for her US tour. Since she is an international pop star, however, she has to go incognito. She dyes her hair and wears a baseball cap to cover her face. While at Disneyland she spots Blain, a ride operator on the Canoes. She drags her sister on the ride and hits it off with Blain. But the connection is short lived because, well, he is at work and she is a guest of the park. So she goes about her visit and he continues his shift. They both continue thinking about each other, though. After his shift, while he is walking through the park he runs into Malaysia, who is using her alias Missy, and the connection is reignited. Ultimately, he asks her to come back to Disneyland with him so he can show her around and they start falling in love.
Now, I'm sure you're wondering what this has to do with me. Well, let's take a trip back in time to the summer of 2000. Wow, I'm getting old. That summer I decided to take a job at Universal Studios. I was a ride operator on Jurassic Park. I could give you all the details about why I both liked and disliked the job, but that's not why we're here. While reading my current book I was reminded of a specific day during my employment at Universal. On this particular day I was working an early shift. Sometime about mid morning a group of girls came through the line. I was stationed at the Child Switch station, which is where parents can wait if they have a child who is too short for the ride, but they still want to go on without each parent having to wait in line. It is also where disabled guests and those with front of the line passes enter. And it just happens to be across from the poncho station. This group of girls was nervous about getting wet, so they wanted to buy ponchos. I tried to tell them that the ponchos wouldn't really help, and one of the girls, a beautiful blonde, said she tried to tell the rest of them the same thing. We started talking while her friends bought ponchos. She was gorgeous and had an amazing accent that I initially thought was Australian. She informed me that she was from South Africa and was visiting the United States for the first time. We really hit it off. She was easy to talk to and had a fun attitude. But alas, she and her friends went on the ride and I stayed at my station. As much as I wanted to, I knew I would probably never see her again. Apparently, though, I made an impact on her as well, because she came back later in the day! I was fortunate enough to be working at the front of the ride when she walked back into my life. Her friends weren't with her this time. She came back just to talk to me! I was at the station for an hour and we talked the entire time. We talked about everything from cartoons to school to surfing. She was a surfer and had also just started college back in South Africa. I was smitten. And then I got word that it was time for a shift change. I wanted her to wait a few minutes to see where my next shift was, and I found out that I was actually going on a break. But when I came back, she was gone. Out of my life forever. I hoped I would see her again. I even took the long, slow walk through the park after my shift, hoping I would run into her. But it didn't happen. When I came to work the next day, one of my coworkers said he had something for me. He told me a girl came by looking for me the night before, but I was already off. She asked him to give me a bracelet from her. He was impressed. I only wish I could have been there when she came back. I know she lived in South Africa, but who knows what might have been.
I was reminded of this event as I was reading my book. What if this girl was a pop star in disguise? What if we had more time to spend together? What if she was the one and I let her get away? I've never connected with a girl like that since then, and very few girls, if any, have made an impression on me like she did. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. I know I shouldn't be living in the past, but I wish I could recapture the confidence and ease that I exhibited that day. That was part of my Summer of Adam, where I focused on myself and acted on some of my whims, like working at an amusement park. Maybe I should try that again.
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