Hi,
This is just a quick post, or warning, on how you should never give me any power over anything important or that has any relation to the human race whatsoever.
I am volunteering at The Poly in Falmouth again, the first time in a while. If you don’t know what The Poly is, it’s like an arts centre, there are rooms for arts exhibitions as well a theatre and a bar upstairs. When I’m here, I work as a Box Office volunteer, which is mainly sitting at the front desk in an important looking chair – black and leathery and another powerfully symbolic object which I should not be permitted to sit in under any circumstances – answering calls and booking tickets for people who want to see the many types of events which go on here (I’ll stop there before this post turns into an advertising campaign).
I’d like to stress again, I haven’t volunteered here in a while, I mean for about three months. So obviously I’m going to be a bit rusty. But it’s just a bit more embarrasing and mortifying when I’m making really idiotic slip ups in front of real customers.
Incident number 1 and 2, (1 and 2 because it happened to two customers), I couldn’t open the till, so I had no change for the first person buying tickets this morning. Luckily they had the exact change. Second person wanting tickets is right behind them, asks for a ticket for a comedian coming here next Thursday. I start off proceedings by asking whether she wants an adult ticket, as she seemed like an older woman, with completely grey hair, but I didn’t want to offend her with slightly tactless question of whether she’d prefer a senior ticket. It doesn’t get much easier. As I’m buying her ticket for her, I realise I’ve accidentally selected a wheelchair seat for her, but luckily I changed that pretty quickly. Then there was the inevitable problem with change and my complete inability to open the till, but really fortunately, the amount that the previous customers had paid for me was able to serve as change in the exact quantity that customer number 2 needed. So, I managed to get around these two incidents with the appearance of only being a bit idiotic. And, of course, I had to remember where the key for the till was just after this second customer left.
And now on to my third big mistake of the morning. A person rang up, asking to talk to one of the important people here… Firstly, I accidentally put the phone on loudspeaker, so all of my mistakes could be heard globally by the other people who are sitting in the same room as me. Secondly, whilst I was trying to make an internal call to pass on this person to the Boss, I must 
have done something wrong, and I ended up hanging up on the person who had been calling. When I went searching for someone to help me around the Poly, I came to the revelation that nobody was actually here for this brief period of panic! Nobody could hear my internal screaming! So, heading back to my desk again, the phone rang again. It was the person who I had, through no fault of my own, hung up on. Still on loudspeaker, I told her that the Boss wasn’t in, but fortunately could slightly help her with her requests anyway… She’s coming in to do a training session this afternoon. A thought has just struck me. I’m going to be meeting this person this afternoon…
I’m an idiot in a powerful position. Get me out of here.
(But of course, I am just exaggerating, I’m actually moderately intelligent)…
LKPennell's Focus 