sometimes I want to snap...

[Dentarthurdent]

...because of the same dumb questions and statements, over and over.

"Where's [thing national park is named for]?" If you were standing much closer, you'd be touching it.

"Where's the bathroom?" Do you see the 200-point font BRIGHT YELLOW word "RESTROOMS"? I don't mind you asking if you aren't a native English speaker, but for the love of the gods LOOK AROUND YOU! It's the same fucking thing with the restaurant. I actually had a man walk up to me today at the front desk and go "Table for four." I was like, UM, NO. If you'd do a 360 you'd see all these things. But you're too busy looking at the decorations and those god-awful ugly lamp fixtures to notice, I guess. Speaking of being too busy looking up...I saw a woman full-on WALK INTO a wet floor sign and knock it over the other day. The sad part was I saw it coming and almost went to tell the porter to move it before someone got hurt. She didn't get hurt, just embarrassed.

"I keep seeing people with ice cream." That's nice, I see dead people, but I don't talk about it in polite company.

"Do you live here?" Especially stupid because the nearest major town is over 50 miles away.

"Where's the bus to [location only reachable on foot]?" This is kind of the equivalent of asking how to get to Roosevelt's ass when you go to Mount Rushmore. Which I'm sure has been asked. As a side note, when I worked at Mount Rainier, someone almost got fired for announcing on the PA system that the "bus to the summit" was about to depart in front of the lobby.

"Hur hur, Michigan, is that your last name?" Why does my company have to put my home state on my nametag. WHYY.

"It must be so nice to live here." Well, I'm not on vacation, and as I pointed out only a few hours ago, for 6 months of the year it's too cold, and for 4 of the other 6 there's vicious wildlife to worry about. Once in a while I stare at the beauty of [thing national park is named after], but that hardly makes up for the rest of it.

The other day I had a woman ask me how to get somewhere. I did use the word "blue" in describing a color-coded bus stop along her way. She repeated the directions back to me and added a "blue awning" that came out of absolutely nowhere. I was confused.

"Even though the tour desk is closed, can you pull a tour desk employee out of your ass to help me?" Had this one tonight and went behind the desk and asked the tour desk employees (who were trying to close) to shout "No, we're closed!" at me. They insisted on helping the person instead.

"Can you give me directions to (town on the other side of the next state over)?" Well, not off the top of my head. At least I have an atlas, though, so I can probably give you a good idea how to get there.

***

All of these questions just...build up on me, and I feel wound too tight and like I just want to fly off the handle. I answer the same six questions, day in and day out, to the point where it's extremely refreshing to me if someone wants help planning their vacation. That's the only time I really feel like I'm engaging my brain. I don't hate my job, I like most of it, in fact. I just find it a little mind-numbing.

[NateTheChops]

Gods, I hear you loud and clear.

The usual questions I get are directions to the AMC and the RMV. Both I don't mind giving because they are in the mall and I'd want someone to give me clear directions to those places in the future.

But the restroom question comes up often, even when we have a really large sign that points people in the direction of the restrooms. And all they have to do is go down the hall and voila! There they are!

[RealUnimportant]

We have posters with the times of all the trains, 2 main screens showing the next 10 trains due through the station, extra panels on each platform showing the 3 next trains specifically due to arrive/depart there... And every 3 minutes I'll have someone ask "when's the next train to (listed terminal)?" *stabs*

[MelindaJoy77]

People never seem to pay attention to their surroundings anymore. In my grocery store there are signs everywhere, and it's also the kind of place where you'd assume people have been there many times before and they should know where stuff is, but they keep asking anyway.

[Aislin]

I was born near a national park and lived in a town that was close to the entrance to the park. I got so sick and tired of people telling me how lucky I was to live there. You know what? I wanted to go to Disneyland but no, I got to "vacation" near home every year because people would visit and we would show them around. My dad new the local audio tour by heart and rehearse it often as we drove around doing errands. I look back and laugh at how many times I was chased by moose or bison walking home from school. At the time it was less than funny. I have been chased by a bear and seen one of the most famous views in the country literally hundreds of times. Because I am a twin, numerous tourists have taken mine and my sister photo and because my mother looks Hopi I have heard people ignorantly say "how" to her over and over again. The local tribe isn't Hopi and always found it amusing and offered to adopt her time and again. Yes, living near a park is fun at times but, seriously it is just a place to live and it stops being spectacular after a while and if you were born there it is just were you live.

[camjuniper]

I feel for you. And it's never just one dumb question. It's that same dumb question you've been asked seven times already. Today.

I get the bathroom one a lot. It really amuses me when people leave the upstairs (which has it's own bathroom) and come downstairs to ask where the bathroom is. Um, you walked by it on your way in? And also, you walked by the signs for the one upstairs on your way down. Maybe we need more signs. Or motion activated aural signs. *person walks past sign* "The bathroom is located on the left. A child's restroom is located on the first floor in the children's room. Further restrooms are located in the lobby entrance. All restrooms are handicapped accessible."

[Pagan]

"Hur hur, Michigan, is that your last name?" Why does my company have to put my home state on my nametag. WHYY.

The casino I worked in at Lake Tahoe did this. More than a few times I got comments about how good my English was and how they didn't know that someone from Mexico could work in a US casino. Oh, and "you don't look Mexican". Until I opened my mouth and started talking and then you could see the "she looks like a white girl" look go across their faces.

and because my mother looks Hopi I have heard people ignorantly say "how" to her over and over again. The local tribe isn't Hopi and always found it amusing and offered to adopt her time and again. Yes, living near a park is fun at times but, seriously it is just a place to live and it stops being spectacular after a while and if you were born there it is just were you live.

That's just freaking rude. Pisses me off no end. I see that kind of behavior in Santa Fe every damn summer from tourists, especially on the Porch in front of the Palace. I just want to smack these people! Worst comment is the "they all look alike" one. Really? We've got 22 tribes here and, just like other humans, they do indeed look different.

[MoonCat]

Pagan, I recall reading a story somewhere a few years ago wherein a guy from New Mexico called some agency that was selling tickets for Olympic events; when asked for his address, as soon as they heard "New Mexico" they told him didn't sell to anyone outside the U.S. and he would have to call the place "in his own country" that sold tickets for the Olympics. He couldn't convince the regular phone jockey or the manager that New Mexico was a U.S. state! I find that pathetic, really.

[Titi]

MoonCat that was here on CS! I was just going to post a reply about it. I remember when the OP said it's he was not in Mexico but New Mexico the state, the manager said, I don't care if it's new or old you have to call your own country! and hung up.

"Do you live here?" Especially stupid because the nearest major town is over 50 miles away.

Worse when it is over that. I remember when Jester got that question and he lives in Key West.

[dalesys]

......the nearest major town is over 50 miles away...

Worse when it is over that. I remember when Jester got that question and he lives in Key West.

When I worked at Little America they ran buses 40 miles east to Green River & Rock Springs and station wagons 40 miles west to Fort Bridger to collect enough staff beyond what lived on the plantation.

[Ironclad Alibi]

MoonCat that was here on CS! I was just going to post a reply about it. I remember when the OP said it's he was not in Mexico but New Mexico the state, the manager said, I don't care if it's new or old you have to call your own country! and hung up.

It happens so much that the New Mexico Magazine has long had a column titled One Of Our 50 Is Missing.

[Pagan]

It happens so much that the New Mexico Magazine has long had a column titled One Of Our 50 Is Missing.

And would you believe that some people want the magazine to get rid of the column? It's only there because it keeps happening. We all have a story or two.

It's to the point that whenever I leave the state, I'm going to start carrying a map of the US.

[HawaiianShirts]

"Hur hur, Michigan, is that your last name?" Why does my company have to put my home state on my nametag. WHYY.
...
"It must be so nice to live here." Well, I'm not on vacation, and as I pointed out only a few hours ago, for 6 months of the year it's too cold, and for 4 of the other 6 there's vicious wildlife to worry about. Once in a while I stare at the beauty of [thing national park is named after], but that hardly makes up for the rest of it.

I think I know who you work for. Probably the same company I worked for in Yellowstone. I have to admit, though, that my time working in a national park was amazing. As soon as I was off the clock, I felt like I was on vacation.

Definitely had my share of dumb questions, though. I worked at the lake, about a 45-minute drive from Old Faithful, yet someone would often ask me or some other employee, "When's the next eruption of Old Faithful?" Instead of explaining that the geyser erupts when it feels like it and that just happens to be every 60-90 minutes, we decided that the best answer was to look at a clock and say, "Hmmm... Well, if you leave now, I think you'll just make it." That was good enough every time I used it.

[paxillated]

I must confess, I'm one of the ones who ask for the rest room... however, it usually goes like this: "Where's the restroom, I-bet-it's-right-over-there-under-the-sign!" (blush)

[Skarredmind]

"Do you live here?" Especially stupid because the nearest major town is over 50 miles away.

Nope... but this question makes me die a little each time its asked.