WokeDisneyWorld

This is the last night of my sister’s and my few days in Disney World, so I thought I’d give you her take on the situation in the land of misconceptions.

It’s important to know that I am a (very center) Democrat and my sister is a (very center) Repubican, so while we agree on many things, we do hear our news spun sligtly differently. She asked me to share her observations here because she thinks it’s important to folks who might travel in some of the same information circles as she, so here goes:

We spent four days in three parks and stayed at a Disney property and we saw:

1. People of all sizes, shapes, and colors enjoying the place and working for the place.
2. People who spoke dozens of languages unfamiliar to us but the smiles and laughter required no translation.
3. People with tattoos, piercings, mouse ears (a LOT of mouse ears), headscarves, halter tops, jorts, t-shirts, and every other body adornment and mode of dress imaginable and everyone was enjoying themselves.

We DID NOT see:

1. Drag queens trying to abduct children.
2. Employees policing the (gendered) restrooms.
3. Trans people offering kids info on reassignment surgery.
4. Evangelicals offering to pray away the gay.

What we deduced from our time:

DisneyWorld is woke in the best meaning of the word. There were mountains of differences amongst the thousands of people, but every one of us was here to feel the wonder that the folks at WDW work so hard to provide. We were able to relax, not in spite of our differences, but because we stopped “feeling” the differences as we were all sharing the awe-inspiring experience that Disney offers.

Phyll and I talked about how important it is for us to carry that feeling of shared experience into everyday life, to remember that other people are not “other.” Actively thinking about our shared needs, hopes, laughs, and fears might start to heal some of the ginned up divisions between us and our neighbors. I think it’s worth a try.

Happy Wednesday from Phyllis and me – and Tigger.