OpalMermaid
07-05-2016, 09:34 AM
New here and wanted to share my experience at an aquarium I was supposed to work as a Mermaid.
Last year, I was so excited to find out that I had been chosen to be the Mermaid at a local Aquarium. It literally was a dream come true, however, I had to also work in the gift shop and in inventory, but I was 100% okay with that and absolutely loved the first days I worked there out of water. They had two Mermaids, another girl and I, the other girl got to be the Mermaid the first weekend we were there (fabric tail/top) and I just couldn't wait for my turn the following weekend with the silicone tail/top. I was scheduled to work a birthday party! I am very shy and a huge introvert, but when I woke up that morning I was so ecstatic, pumped and a little nervous. When I first arrived to work, I was scheduled in the front working the gift shop, when I was called to the back to get ready for my big day!! I was told to go to this small room where the suit was and that someone would be back there to help me get it on, keep in mind I had never put it on, never been in that part of the Aquarium, never had training, nothing. I was put in the back, alone, with a tail and a top and I waited and waited. No one came to help me for what it seemed like forever. When the girl finally came, she told me how to get it on, but did not assist and went on smoke break instead. So I was left to fend for myself in a place I was not familiar with. I am an A-CUP, the top I was given was for a very busty, thicker girl, and it fell to the floor over and over again. So I put my clothes back on and went to find the chick who left me hanging. When I opened the door one of the male employees asked me how I was doing and if I needed help, he had to be the nicest employee working there. I told him the top was too big for me, I had zero assistance and that I thought the outfit would fit the other Mermaid better because of her bosom. So I went out searching for her. Meanwhile, the birthday party is waiting. She gets to the back and what do you know?? The top is way to big for her too. So instead I help her get into the tail and get her make up on. While this is happening another girl comes to help her get the top on, apparently, they use binder clips to keep the top on... only they couldn't find the binder clips, so she proceeded to where her bikini top. We start to get her on the chair to roll her out into the party, when the original girl that was supposed to assist me, runs up to us and starts yelling and screaming that we weren't out there already. She was furious, because the Grandfather of the birthday girl was not happy with the wait. I was in so much shock and disbelief that I can't even remember how I had the time to do this, but I learned how to do glitter tattoos in less than five minutes and was told to give all of the children tattoos instead. All in all, it was a very stressful situation, I ended up quitting and letting the Manager know EVERYTHING that went down. She was very upset about what had happened, she didn't want to lose me as an employee as I worked super hard to organize the inventory rooms (they were horrific).
I learned alot from the experience, I found out that I loved working with the children, talking to them about there favorite sea creatures and giving them a good birthday and aquarium experience. They were actually more interested in what I was doing, rather than the Mermaid, which was pretty great, ha. Either way, after the experience I went through, I strayed away from this path as it wasn't the best first impression of Mermaid Life. However, recently I've started to think back on my experience there and even though it wasn't the best I still would like to give my dream another go and that being a children's performer is something that I would love to pursue, especially in an Aquarium. So here I am, soaking in as much information as I can so I can follow my dreams! It would be so amazing to hear anyone else's firsts or fails when you were getting your sea legs. Thanks so much for reading, I can't wait to get started!
Last year, I was so excited to find out that I had been chosen to be the Mermaid at a local Aquarium. It literally was a dream come true, however, I had to also work in the gift shop and in inventory, but I was 100% okay with that and absolutely loved the first days I worked there out of water. They had two Mermaids, another girl and I, the other girl got to be the Mermaid the first weekend we were there (fabric tail/top) and I just couldn't wait for my turn the following weekend with the silicone tail/top. I was scheduled to work a birthday party! I am very shy and a huge introvert, but when I woke up that morning I was so ecstatic, pumped and a little nervous. When I first arrived to work, I was scheduled in the front working the gift shop, when I was called to the back to get ready for my big day!! I was told to go to this small room where the suit was and that someone would be back there to help me get it on, keep in mind I had never put it on, never been in that part of the Aquarium, never had training, nothing. I was put in the back, alone, with a tail and a top and I waited and waited. No one came to help me for what it seemed like forever. When the girl finally came, she told me how to get it on, but did not assist and went on smoke break instead. So I was left to fend for myself in a place I was not familiar with. I am an A-CUP, the top I was given was for a very busty, thicker girl, and it fell to the floor over and over again. So I put my clothes back on and went to find the chick who left me hanging. When I opened the door one of the male employees asked me how I was doing and if I needed help, he had to be the nicest employee working there. I told him the top was too big for me, I had zero assistance and that I thought the outfit would fit the other Mermaid better because of her bosom. So I went out searching for her. Meanwhile, the birthday party is waiting. She gets to the back and what do you know?? The top is way to big for her too. So instead I help her get into the tail and get her make up on. While this is happening another girl comes to help her get the top on, apparently, they use binder clips to keep the top on... only they couldn't find the binder clips, so she proceeded to where her bikini top. We start to get her on the chair to roll her out into the party, when the original girl that was supposed to assist me, runs up to us and starts yelling and screaming that we weren't out there already. She was furious, because the Grandfather of the birthday girl was not happy with the wait. I was in so much shock and disbelief that I can't even remember how I had the time to do this, but I learned how to do glitter tattoos in less than five minutes and was told to give all of the children tattoos instead. All in all, it was a very stressful situation, I ended up quitting and letting the Manager know EVERYTHING that went down. She was very upset about what had happened, she didn't want to lose me as an employee as I worked super hard to organize the inventory rooms (they were horrific).
I learned alot from the experience, I found out that I loved working with the children, talking to them about there favorite sea creatures and giving them a good birthday and aquarium experience. They were actually more interested in what I was doing, rather than the Mermaid, which was pretty great, ha. Either way, after the experience I went through, I strayed away from this path as it wasn't the best first impression of Mermaid Life. However, recently I've started to think back on my experience there and even though it wasn't the best I still would like to give my dream another go and that being a children's performer is something that I would love to pursue, especially in an Aquarium. So here I am, soaking in as much information as I can so I can follow my dreams! It would be so amazing to hear anyone else's firsts or fails when you were getting your sea legs. Thanks so much for reading, I can't wait to get started!