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I remember I was in a museum in Washington D.C. (can't remember which one, we visited so many) and I had a small backpack/purse thing which I wore on my back. One of the guards came up to me and asked me to please hang it over one shoulder. It stuck out a fair bit, but I didn't understand why I needed to do this.
Needless to say, because I am not a sucky customer, and because I was around 14 and didn't want to do the wrong thing in such a grown-up environment, I complied immediately, but the confused look on my face must have given me away.
She said, "You want to know why, huh?" in a very friendly tone, not condescending at all. I nodded and she said that it was because they had lots of people from different cultures and countries in the museum and since my backpack stuck out a bit, I might brush someone or bump someone with it, and they could be very offended by that.
Anyway, I was allowed to keep my bag, and got a reason that I had to carry it a certain way, in a very polite, honest way. That always stuck with me -- I have the utmost respect for people who work in museums.
Needless to say, because I am not a sucky customer, and because I was around 14 and didn't want to do the wrong thing in such a grown-up environment, I complied immediately, but the confused look on my face must have given me away.
She said, "You want to know why, huh?" in a very friendly tone, not condescending at all. I nodded and she said that it was because they had lots of people from different cultures and countries in the museum and since my backpack stuck out a bit, I might brush someone or bump someone with it, and they could be very offended by that.
Anyway, I was allowed to keep my bag, and got a reason that I had to carry it a certain way, in a very polite, honest way. That always stuck with me -- I have the utmost respect for people who work in museums.
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