Flashback to 2002, The End

March 16, 2002:
It was a little hard to know exactly how this was all going to go, but tonight was just GREAT!! First, I decided that I definitely was sick of being alone, so I connected with a cute friend who lives near Cottonwood Mall and we rode together. She had to be there a little earlier than I did, but I figured it was worth it for the company. While she was puttering around I grabbed a snack and visited with some of the others. The food was about the same menu, but not for as many people, so the quality seemed to be a step up. I just got a tray of delicious nachos (imitation Cheese Whiz) and another Coke (I may never drink another!) and hung around. When they called me to come in, they offered the reward of a "hot meal ticket" (and we all know how well that went!) and an "attractive Special Event jacket" to wear for the night, that we could keep as a souvenir. The attractive jackets were black nylon with white topstitching, black mesh lining, Salt Lake 2002 on the back and a tasteful patch on the front that says "Olympic Medals Plaza Staff" - the only problem is that the jackets only came in size huge and huger! I was lucky and got one of the last huge ones. They were even enormous on the big guys. One of my friends, whose uniform was an extra, extra small, got one of the huger ones and we offered suggestions for her later use - the winner was to add poles and use it for a tent for her family.
I didn't know who I would be working with because I already knew that the other people in the IB wouldn't be returning. I quickly found out that the girl in charge of setting up all of the Info Booths was going to serve as my Team Leader and that they had just assigned another host to help out. Lucky me, I'm in there with two people who have never actually worked in an IB before. The TL was bragging to everyone about all the wonderful things that she had provided for us to use during the Olympics - especially the 4 inch binder full of "helpful" information. I didn't have the heart to tell her that we had used NONE of it. (Everything that we actually used we had to find ourselves - I ended up printing phone numbers and addresses to hand out for people to call the Lost and Found Center. The word got around and the other IBs started doing the same thing) She was very self satisfied, until people began coming in and asking real questions and she couldn't help them at all. Our helper, Ray the Info specialist, showed up and told us how surprised he was to be assigned there. He was a very nice older man, who was willing to do anything. However, he freely admitted that he didn't have a clue about anything that anyone might ask. (I later found out that he had come in several nights when he wasn't scheduled and had not come in when he was - not a good sign.) When he asked if we were really sure we needed him, I was ready to send him out where he had already worked, but my fearless Team Leader said, "We're glad for the help!" (That would have been true had he been help) Another nice little lady came in and offered to stay. She also got the spunky answer from the TL (I hate spunk!) On the pretense of getting a few replacement photos - I accidentally erased the first bunch on the new digital camera - I got her outside and told her on the sly that there wasn't going to be much to do and she might as well go where she could keep busy. She thanked me for the tip and went off and had a swell time.
Our first problem was the case of the missing assisted listening devices. For the Olympics we had three cases containing 75 receivers with earpieces. In 17 days we checked out exactly ONE, and that one was returned with a complaint of poor sound. So now we are hosting the Paralympics, with deaf athletes, and we have no ALDs. Poor, dear Linda was put on the scent and managed to round them up two hours later after going through every tent and trailer on the OMP and get them to us exactly five minutes after we turned away the ONLY request of the night!
The TL seemed to need rest stops all the time. The minute she left, we had
people needing help. (Maybe they sized up the situation and waited till they saw she was gone!) Once, I had two biggies at the same time. I started helping two Japanese journalists who had left their camera on the media bus. I was on the phone to the media tent when Ray took one look at two deaf girls who had a problem and passed them off to me, too. It was hard to keep the hand gestures straight - hold on, I'm trying to talk to the bus dispatcher or hold on, I'll find out where the sign language translator is going to be. Ray was supportive.
I am so glad that I was able to spend all my time in my nice heated tent. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't been climatized. The temperature the entire time has ranged from too cold to too #?*! cold. I was thinking about 2 years ago when I went to Region Drama during this same week and wore a light cotton knit dress with short sleeves and went bare legged in sandals! Here we are in our full uniforms and our attractive staff jackets and are still freezing.
LOST AND FOUND OF THE NIGHT: First, another Olympic (or Paralympic) miracle - someone FINALLY turned in a Team 2002 glove, which was promptly identified and claimed. All we can figure is that people are keeping them for souvenirs, but who wants ONE glove? Second, we had a cute little pair of shades with chrome frames and fuschia lenses. I couldn't resist filling out the forms (I was the only one who wrote more than "glove" or "hat", anyway) by listing them as "rose-colored glasses". I hope there is someone in the L & F Center old enough to be amused.
This night was my real party. All the people who drove me nuts didn't show up and all my favorites were there. I think those of us who actually enjoyed the work appreciated each other. Since I had the Info Experts in the Booth, I decided that I could cruise and enjoy the show - and I DID! The security was extremely relaxed, no searches or hyper guards in the aisles, so I roamed around with some of the support operations girls and we had a blast. We watched the athletes come in with the flags, listened to the mucky-mucks congratulate themselves, saw the first set of fireworks and the cauldron extinguished. Patty LaBelle started performing and I got to hear the first number or two, then went back to the tent to check out how things were going. A few minutes later, Linda came in and wanted to know if I would go out to watch the rest of the concert and the big finale with her, so out we went. It was fantastic!! Fireworks shooting off buildings and Patty LaBelle out in the crowd, hugging the athletes and signing autographs for a long time. It was a special treat to be able to share it with Linda, who has turned out to be a wonderful friend. I am certain that we will stay in touch - we already have plans to get together with a few others for lunch.
One thing that they did for the closing ceremonies that was different from anything in the Olympics was they had confetti cannons that shot red, blue and green apostrophes - those little deals on the Paralympic logo. They were just thick in the air and on the ground afterward. It was really cool, but I saw a sad little Hispanic man standing looking up at the volume in the sky, holding a regular broom and dustpan, with the most forlorn face.
Leaving was harder than I expected. Even though I didn't know if I would be back at the end of the Olympics, there was still a chance. This time we knew that it was really over. The banners were dark, the Plaza was coming down and we weren't going to be called in again. I'll miss the activity, the challenge, the ridiculous things that happened every night and especially the incredible people I met. What a trip!