two fun stories.
Last Saturday I had a great day! The last tour I gave for the day was downright awesome! The tour itself was not super, it was really good, but what made the tour exceptional was the crowd response.
The day was HOT- 110 degrees, and I’m giving tours on an open-air tram to hot and tired guests in the 4 o’clock hour… when people are at their most tired and potentially cranky levels.
I went out to great them before we loaded up on the tram, and was not only hit with the wall of heat as I left the air conditioned break room, but I was also hit with a new level of high energy! I greeted every family and group on the loading line, and even ran down the length of it giving a high five to the people in the front… all 175 feet of the line!
When the tram arrived and we began getting aboard, I was told that the heat of the day mixed with the heat of the engine was causing the speakers in the second car to fade in and out and that there was nothing we could do about it.
So after giving the safety rules, which include pointing out the emergency cord which is also there in case of sound or video problems, I let the tram know on mic, about the potential problem in the second car. But as I do, I began to put a positive spin on it, and just before saying, “But we’ll just hope that doesn’t happen, and it’ll be alright,” I scoffed in my mind at hoping and said pray, instead. I didn’t pray on mic or anything, and went right on with the tour intro, “We’re going to have a great time on the tour today, and one of the people that especially wants you to have a great time is our driver…” (Then later while I was playing a dvd clip, I gave up a quick prayer for the audio/ visual system and the tour. I don’t know if anyone else prayed, and until now, no one knew I did.)
There were no problems on the tour our driver was awesome, I had fun, the driver had fun, and when the guests left toward the exit area, another guide saw me approaching. She said brightly on the exit area microphone, “And here comes tour guide, Nick Sweet!” And that’s when I knew it was a great tour. Guests turned around and cheered… in the blazing heat! They clapped and cheered!
Now that’s not super rare for guests to be excited after a tour, but it is in the heat like we had last Saturday.
I was very happy and still very excited as well!
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That was my last tour of the day and may well be one of the best tours I’ve done in my life (thanks be to God), and on the way home I stopped a Rite aid.
I was still on a high and let the girl know this when I approached the counter and she asked how I was. “I’m doing great!” I said, and in that moment between thoughts and words held back the phrase “and I’m doing even better now!” She was a very easy girl to look at and the rite aid was in Fullerton, Orange County, CA.
She replied to the exuberant answer I DID give by asking, “why?”
I explained that I had a great day at wok and now I was off, as I handed her my plastic money.
She handed my card back to me and said, “Oops! It didn’t take, I’ll have to swipe it again.”
“That’s okay.” I re-retrieved the card from my wallet.
“Sorry to disappoint.”
And here is where I really held back what I wanted to say. My quick mind (which thankfully is quicker than my mouth) provided me with this little un-spoken gem, to be accompanied by a tilt of the head and a dreamy look into her eyes, “Oh, you could disappoint me more than that, if you wanted too."
Ah, unused flirtatious lines!
I walked out of the store and laughed out loud on my way to the car.