Wednesday morning arrived quickly—mostly because I had to be at the Marriott at 6:45 in the morning. I arrived on time and before my supervisor. My supervisor arrived, and I introduced myself.
Me: Hi, I’m Cardelia. I’m working in the speaker room today.
Supervisor: Hello. It doesn’t look like the room is open yet, so just sit in here for a while.
I walked into the employee lounge and took a seat.
Me: So, do you know what I’ll be doing today?
S: (Giving me a confused look.) I’m pretty sure you’ll just be sitting.
Me: Oh, I was told that I would be doing administrative work.
S: No. You’re just sitting there.
Me: Okay.
Some time passes, and I offered to check to see if the room is open. It wasn’t, so I walked back. As I walked into the employee lounge, I saw Cheryl, the head supervisor from Moscone West. She was explaining to the Marriott supervisor that I never showed up for work, so she brought Michelle to work in the speaker room. As I walked in, the supervisor pointed to me and said, “She’s right here. This is Cardelia. She’s been here for a half an hour.”
Cheryl looked at me with scorn and told the supervisor that she was surprised that I was the person assigned to this job since it required a special kind of person. The supervisor told her that she thought I’d do a fine job. Not knowing quite what to do, I just smiled and sat down. As I sat down, the room monitor supervisor (who offered me the speaker room) walked in. He and Cheryl had a tete-a-tete about me. Once Cheryl left, he walked over and told me that Cheryl wasn’t very smart. Sadly for me, Cheryl, along with everyone else, seemed to think I was a total idiot.
Not wanting to deal with any more insults, I walked back over to the speaker room, which was still locked. There was a seat outside of the room, and I sat down, thinking it was likely my post. A woman from the software company came by to set up a meeting in the room next to the speaker room. As she stood there, she chatted with me, and it was the most refreshing conversation I had all week. She spoke to me as though I were an intellectual equal—and I WAS.
Her meeting started, and another woman from the software company walked over. I had a hunch she was my contact, Amy.
Me: Hi, I’m Cardelia. Are you Amy, by chance?
Amy: Yes, I am.
Me: It’s nice to meet you. I’m working with you today.
Amy: Great. I hope you brought a book or something. It’s pretty boring.
Me: Oh, I didn’t. Hey, so the door is locked. I’ve been here since 6:45, and I’ve been waiting for someone to open it.
Amy: That’s weird. I’ll call them.
(She made a phone call, and we were told that someone was on the way. Within minutes, Gordon (from the training session) arrived.)
Gordon: Oh, hi. How are you?
Amy: I’m fine. The door is locked.
Gordon: Oh, okay. We’ll take care of that for you (he looks at her nametag) Amy. (He got on his walkie-talkie and called the same person that Amy had just called. Once he finished, he turned to me.) Oh so, (looking at Amy’s nametag), Amy, this is (looking at my nametag), Cardelia. She’s here. She’s going to be in the room with you. She’s…
Me: (Interrupting.) We’ve already met.
Amy: Yeah, it’s fine. We’ve been talking for a little bit already.
Gordon: Oh, okay. Well, she’s here to do whatever you need.
(At long last, the woman with the keys approaches.)
Woman: I unlocked this door already. Someone was here. It was unlocked. That girl must have closed the door. It was unlocked. I unlocked it at seven. Someone’s lying here.
(ed. The only person lying was her, seeing as how I had been there since 6:45)
The door was unlocked and we all walked in. Gordon nervously walked in and glanced around.
Gordon: Okay, Cardelia. Have you been in the speaker room before?
Me: No. This is my first day.
Gordon: Okay, let’s see. You should probably sit down. Ummm… (Looking around the room) I think you should sit here. (He moves a chair to the back corner of the room facing the wall.) Yes. That’s a good spot. Then you can watch things.
Me: Okay.
Gordon: So, do you know what you’re doing?
Me: Well, I was told I’d be helping the speakers
Gordon: Yeah, well, you’re watching the room. Let me orientate you.
(I cringed. In case you aren’t aware, “orientate” is NOT a verb. It’s not even a word!)
Gordon: (Looking around the room, pointing at things.) There is quite a bit of computer equipment in here, and you need to make sure no one takes it. So, on this table, you see these things? Those are cables. You hook up computers to those. Over here. This is a printer. Do you know what that does? And over there (he points to the copy machine), have you ever seen one of those before?
Me: Yes. It’s a copy machine.
Gordon: Do you need me to orientate you on that?
Me: No. I know how to use a copy machine.
Gordon: I should probably orientate you.
Me: No. I’m good. I know how to use it. I’ve been using them for over 20 years.
Amy: Oh, that’s broken.
Gordon: Oh, let me get it fixed. I’ll call someone. (At that moment, he sees the walkie talkie.) This is yours. Do you know how to use it?
Me: I’m sure I could figure it out. It’s basically like a phone.
Gordon: Okay, let me orientate you. (He picks up the walkie-talkie and points to the Red button.) This is the button you push to turn it on. (He points to the GREEN button.) And this button turns it off. After you turn it on, you dial the number you want to call and you talk. (He then demonstrates on his device; however, he pushes the GREEN “talk” button to dial, and he calls Cheryl). Oh, hi Cheryl, this is Gordon.
Cheryl: (Who is totally audible because she is on speaker phone.) Hi. How can I help you?
Gordon: Well, I’m here with Cardelia, and I was showing her how to use the walkie-talkie.
Cheryl: Oh, okay. So, how is Cardelia? Is she going to work for the position?
Gordon: (Suddenly uncomfortable.) Yes. She’s fine.
Cheryl: Well, I’m just asking because I’m just not sure. We thought she might work, but I don’t know how smart she is.
Gordon: (Scrambling to turn down the volume, he mistakenly turns is up as Cheryl slings her insults, then he runs across the room.) She’s fine. She’s fine.
Cheryl: Okay, well, you let me know if we need to find someone else.
Gordon: We’ll be fine. (Hangs up.) Do you have any questions?
Me: Nope. I’ve got it all down.
Gordon: Okay, well let me know if you need anything.
Me: Will do.
Gordon left. Amy looked at me and smirked. I then faced the wall and tried to entertain myself with nothing. Eventually, I asked Amy if I could run to the coffee shop to get some breakfast. When I came back, I played a rousing game of Brickbreaker. Around lunch time two girls came to relieve Amy. At that time, I went to get some food. While I was out, I picked up the newspaper. When I returned, I read the entire newspaper. Once I finished reading it, the girls started talking to me.
Girl 1: So, what is it that you’re doing here?
Me: Honestly? I’m not sure why I need to be here. I’m supposed to be watching the room.
Girl 2: But no one is in here.
Me: I know, it seems like a waste of resources.
Girl 1: Why didn’t you bring a book?
Me: I was specifically told not to. In fact, we aren’t allowed to have anything with us.
Girl 2: That’s ridiculous.
Me: I know. But I’m a rule-follower. Not only am I not allowed to read, I’m supposed to look like I’m happy to be here.
Girl 2: But it’s obvious to everyone that you aren’t doing anything.
Me: I know. It’s kind of humiliating in a way.
Girl 2: I could see that.
Girl 1: We’re going to try to leave early.
Girl 2: Yeah, we’re calling our supervisor. If we can close this room, then you can go home too.
Me: Sounds good to me.
Girl 1: Why are you doing this job anyway?
Me: Well, I’d like to say I’m doing it for the money, but the truth is that I was bored.
Girl 2: (Laughs.) And you chose to sit silently in a room?
Me: It’s the grand irony of my life. What can I say? It’s just one of may poor choices that I’ve made in my life.
After about ten minutes, we were dismissed. I said goodbye to my new cohorts, and I went home, vowing NEVER to do convention work again.
No comments:
Post a Comment