Today was the first day that a tour was led by someone else in my department.  I was so excited to finish up the tour guide booklets yesterday so that I can hand some of this stuff off to others and get back to some of the rest of my job.  They are busy, too, though, plus I’m the one who set up all these darn tours, so I feel a bit responsible for taking up so much of their time, too.

On yesterday’s tour, I tried really hard to think of things to put in my tour guide booklets, but all I kept thinking about were the strange and bizarre questions I have gotten on the tours.

A few more:

1.  Me, on the fourth floor:  “This is the pink elevator, and there is a stairwell right next to it, leading to the X building.”  Tourist, while touring the third floor, yet not back to the pink elevator area yet:  “Where is the pink elevator?  Does it come out in the same place as on the 4th floor?”  Me, in my head anyway:  “No, it’s one of those Willy Wonka sideways elevators.  We thought we’d put one in this building just to screw with you.”  Me, really:  “Yes”, and I had to stifle a laugh.

2.  Me:  “This is the Family House, and it has a kitchen, chairbed/couch area like a living room, and service area with washers, dryers, and showers.”  Tourist:  “Are there any bathrooms in the area or do visitors have to go down the hall?”  Now, this one was a little legitimate, but since we have showers, and every other space where we have a shower in the entire campus has a toilet next to it, it follows that this one does, too.

3.  Same Me statement as #2.  Tourist:  “So where is the family lounge area?”  Me:  “This takes the place of the family lounge.”  Tourist:  “So there are no family lounges anymore?”  Me:  If I remember correctly I just pretended I didn’t hear the question.  Sometimes this is in my best interest.

4.  Me, in our interior atrium area, which has a huge glass wall and a glass roof, with nothing between those and the patient rooms:  “All of the patient rooms are on the outside walls, to give the patients natural light.  The patient rooms in this area face out into this atrium area as you can see by the windows along that wall (pointing).”  Tourist:  “Well how do they get natural light if they are inside the atrium?”  Me: “By the huge glass wall and glass roof.”  I actually said this, since I didn’t have my vocal filter on that day.

I have two more tours tomorrow and one Friday.  I’m certain to have more fodder then.  Stay tuned.