I can see her now... -- Remembering Kimmi

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Date Posted: 09:31:06 01/18/06 Wed
Author: Jason Barrett
Subject: I can see her now...

I can see her now, standing there at Pirate's Front Unload, hand on the enable button, ready to dispatch as soon as these damn people would hurry up and sit down (well, at least as soon as they started to sit down), her jaw working a stick of chewing gum. Relaxed. Maybe not totally content, but relaxed and not worried. She was just watching everyone, and anticipating what was going to happen next. You know, once you've spent some time working a ride, you get good at this. You see things happen before they actually do: The kid that's about to walk right into the water because his mom's not paying attention; the group that's going to back you up to the Horseshoe because they're trying to move all eight people of their party into one row; etc. Kimmi was a pro and could stop these events from happening before they had a chance to start. But then, every now and again she'd let the dumb things happen for the entertainment value. Maybe she did it to see if the Guests could get themselves out of trouble as easily as they got into it. You could always tell when she was doing it, too, just by the look on her face. She seemed to get a kick out of finding those things in life that are trivial, repetitive, kind of stupid, and just enjoying them for what they are. I loved watching her react to a Guest when they would approach her with a dumb question. She'd usually just stare at them and grin. She'd let them talk through their own problem until they figured it out. Afterwards, she'd shoot me a look that could only mean "Jason, do you believe these people?"

For a short time, I became known for doing an impression of one of the Ops. Managers. There were a few managers that got a kick out of seeing me do it, and they would gather in the office to watch me. For Kimmi, this was a real treat. I don't know what it was about it, but Kimmi LOVED it. She would plead for me to do it�she brought me a coffee cup (an essential prop in the gag) and sat everyone down in the office and told them to shut up so she could see "the show." She would laugh so hard, I thought that tears would start streaming from her eyes. And Kimmi's laughter was so infectious�everyone else would explode into laughter, even if they didn't really think my impression was all that funny. I often broke character and had to laugh along with her. Then she would ask me to do it again, with the same amount of anticipation and anxiousness--like she was afraid she would forget it if I didn't do it again right away.

When I had the pleasure of covering the area as a General Lead, I knew I never had to worry about things over at Pirates�not with Kimmi running the show. When I would come by to check in with her it was always the same - "Oh what do you want? Asshole." She had a marvelous sense of humor and a caring heart. I am honored to have known her and worked alongside her. She will continue to be missed.

Well, Kimmi, I believe that you're in a better place now. Hopefully if I follow the rules, I'll get to see you again one day. Well, I suppose they're just GUIDELINES anyway...

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Replies:

Re: I can see her now... -- Troy C. Porter, 00:55:04 01/31/06 Tue