What Do Mickey Mouse and Thomas Jefferson Have In Common (Besides the Hall of Presidents)?

For a little while after college, before fully (not really) committing to being an adult, I worked at Walt Disney World. The Disney parks famously have the Four Keys of Service - Safety, Courtesy, Show, Efficiency. They are in order of importance.

For instance, they may sacrifice Efficiency for Show. An example of that would be making you walk through a longer queue area even if there aren’t many people that day. The process of walking through a well themed waiting area may get you more into the story of the attraction and make the overall experience better. The Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster comes to mind.

Another example would be to sacrifice Show for Courtesy. Let’s say you walked through the line for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, only to have that well themed waiting area freak you out enough to want to skip the ride. If that’s the case, the cast members would take you through a “back stage” service exit (ironically - an actual elevator). This would sacrifice the Show to provide you the Courtesy of a quick exit.

Lastly, everything is put aside for Safety. Period. The Haunted Mansion stops to allow someone to transfer from a wheelchair into a ride car. The EMTs don’t care if there is a parade between them and someone in need of help, they get there.

So what does this have to do with Thomas Jefferson? Well, it’s Independence Day so I’m mostly throwing him in for fun, BUT he also put LIFE before Liberty and Happiness for a reason. And that’s what we all need to do right now. As businesses reopen and Covid still runs free, we’ve got to be sure that the safety of our customers and our employees takes priority.

Kudos to the owners of Gertrude’s Jazz Bar in Kona, HI. They closed in March when things got tough, and reopened safely in June when they were able. Then as things were starting to feel normal, an employee contracted the coronavirus. They decided to close for 14 days out of an abundance of caution. This is a smart move, but I’m sure also a difficult business decision to make.

Also worth noting, the employee got infected from a visiting relative. The relative was in quarantine for 14 days as was required by Hawaii’s emergency mandates, but this is a reminder that if you’re hosting someone under quarantine, you need to consider it for yourself as well.

So, cheers to Micky Mouse and Thomas Jefferson (and Gertrude’s too!) for reminding us that the health and safety of everyone MUST take top priority.

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