We just had a huge group come through Pioneer Village. About 1000 kids, plus teachers, in one day. This is not the suck, they were awesome.
We also let the general public in that day. Which meant we got to deal with an Annoying And Really Dopey Very Annoying Rampaging chicK. (Aardvark, for short)
The first sign we had that the Aardvark was going to be trouble was when she accosted my co-worker, S, outside our historic hotel. S was working as a floater for the school group, basically making sure all the stations had adequate supplies. The Aardvark got right in her face, asking what she was doing at Pioneer Village dressed like she was. (S was wearing black pants and a long sleeved, floral print shirt). S thought she was upset to see a staff member out of costume so she explained that only our interpretation staff are dressed as 'pioneers'. The Aardvark, who was at this point yelling, said that no, it was not that she was not dressed like a pioneer. She felt S's outfit was indecent and too revealing. (You could see her collarbones, oh my fetch my smelling salts!) She also said, while making it clear that she was not Muslim, that S would be offensive to any Muslim families who happened to visit the village. She said she was going to pray that S started to dress like the people she saw in the gift shop, who were buying pioneer bonnets. S did her best to disengage and walked away.
The Aardvark then went into our historic hotel where she found 25 happy young kids working on yarn dolls under the supervision of L, one of our most senior staff, and N a trainee on his first shift. Something seemed to let loose in the Aardvark's brain, because she proceeded to run around the room, snatching the scissors the kids were using, and screaming "They will cut themselves!! They will cut themselves!!". The kids were freaking out, understandably. The teachers were trying to figure out who this woman was. L was trying to talk her into giving back the scissors. The Aardvark refused to give them back because L "would just give them back to the kids". The Aardvark then fled the building with the scissors. N, the trainee, was sent on a desperate run to the Education Office to find more scissors and report the Aardvark to management while L ran a little 'counselling' session for the students who were very upset, because they felt they must have been acting dangerously for an adult to react that way.
This was when our boss, J, when out to confront the Aardvark. This is where things get a bit fuzzy. I don't know what the Aardvark did to J, because she was very shaken up when I spoke to her and just said "She assaulted me". J said she was not physically hurt, but she was really upset.
The police were called to deal with the Aardvark. The first I knew something was happening was when I saw two in-uniform officers in the village. I am hoping to hear if they caught the Aardvark and what happened next week when I work again, since J needed some quality time with her coffee before she will want to inform the staff.
That being said, this is the first time EVER that I have heard of the police being called to the village.
The staff all had a good laugh about 'indecent' shirts. One of the older ladies pointed out that she was a veritable prostitute for wearing a v-neck that day. We were able to assure poor N that most days are not like this, and all the kids finished their yarn dolls.
Apologies to any actual aardvarks. :P
We also let the general public in that day. Which meant we got to deal with an Annoying And Really Dopey Very Annoying Rampaging chicK. (Aardvark, for short)
The first sign we had that the Aardvark was going to be trouble was when she accosted my co-worker, S, outside our historic hotel. S was working as a floater for the school group, basically making sure all the stations had adequate supplies. The Aardvark got right in her face, asking what she was doing at Pioneer Village dressed like she was. (S was wearing black pants and a long sleeved, floral print shirt). S thought she was upset to see a staff member out of costume so she explained that only our interpretation staff are dressed as 'pioneers'. The Aardvark, who was at this point yelling, said that no, it was not that she was not dressed like a pioneer. She felt S's outfit was indecent and too revealing. (You could see her collarbones, oh my fetch my smelling salts!) She also said, while making it clear that she was not Muslim, that S would be offensive to any Muslim families who happened to visit the village. She said she was going to pray that S started to dress like the people she saw in the gift shop, who were buying pioneer bonnets. S did her best to disengage and walked away.
The Aardvark then went into our historic hotel where she found 25 happy young kids working on yarn dolls under the supervision of L, one of our most senior staff, and N a trainee on his first shift. Something seemed to let loose in the Aardvark's brain, because she proceeded to run around the room, snatching the scissors the kids were using, and screaming "They will cut themselves!! They will cut themselves!!". The kids were freaking out, understandably. The teachers were trying to figure out who this woman was. L was trying to talk her into giving back the scissors. The Aardvark refused to give them back because L "would just give them back to the kids". The Aardvark then fled the building with the scissors. N, the trainee, was sent on a desperate run to the Education Office to find more scissors and report the Aardvark to management while L ran a little 'counselling' session for the students who were very upset, because they felt they must have been acting dangerously for an adult to react that way.
This was when our boss, J, when out to confront the Aardvark. This is where things get a bit fuzzy. I don't know what the Aardvark did to J, because she was very shaken up when I spoke to her and just said "She assaulted me". J said she was not physically hurt, but she was really upset.
The police were called to deal with the Aardvark. The first I knew something was happening was when I saw two in-uniform officers in the village. I am hoping to hear if they caught the Aardvark and what happened next week when I work again, since J needed some quality time with her coffee before she will want to inform the staff.
That being said, this is the first time EVER that I have heard of the police being called to the village.
The staff all had a good laugh about 'indecent' shirts. One of the older ladies pointed out that she was a veritable prostitute for wearing a v-neck that day. We were able to assure poor N that most days are not like this, and all the kids finished their yarn dolls.
Apologies to any actual aardvarks. :P
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