Work Stories: Episode 53: Ask Me a Question

Previously on Work Stories, I wrote about a story that didn’t even happen to me.  It was just something I had heard about and read about when I returned from my day off.  Someone had urinated on the carpet in the museum instead of using the washroom.  That’s what I wrote about last week.  This week, I won’t write about bodily functions.

This week, I’m going to write about some of the questions I get asked on a daily basis.  These questions aren’t going to be your average questions.  Well, I guess for me they are average.  But I’d like to assume that most of you who are taking the time to read these Work Stories are smart enough to not ask these questions.  They are questions that could be answered easily by the people simply taking a look around themselves and paying some sort of attention to what they see.  It’s time to get this post underway so I’m going to get started with the questions.

“Where is the Niagara Falls?”

This is a simple enough question, and probably the most frequent question I get.  You might think it is a reasonable question, seeing as I work in the city of Niagara Falls and most people who come to our city are here to see the falls itself.  I wouldn’t normally have a problem with people asking me this.  There’s just one issue.

If you walk off of the sidewalk into our lobby to ask me this question, I’m going to think you’re an idiot.  That’s exactly what is going to happen every time.  Why would I think this?  From the sidewalk, you can see the falls.  If you look down the street, you can clearly see the falls.  Why are you asking me where the Niagara Falls is when you were just on the sidewalk, walking in the direction of the falls?  If you had looked up, you would see the falls.  Come on people.

“Where is the Midway?”

Let me clarify this question.  You might be wondering what the Midway is.  It’s an arcade located in our tourist area.  It is attached to a bowling alley, a Boston Pizza, and a Wendy’s.  There are a bunch of games, a moving theater thing, and a ride where you shoot ghosts.  A lot of people end up going there to waste time.

Now, here’s the thing.  The Midway is across the street from the museum I work at, and it has a giant sign that says MIDWAY.  I’ve gotten so annoyed by people asking this question instead of looking that I’ve responded with “You see that giant sign right across the street there that says MIDWAY?  That’s the Midway.”  Yeah.  If you ask me that stupid question, I will answer you in a condescending manner.

“Is this the exit to the Fun House?”

Why would it be?  Come on people.  You’re talking to a guy standing in front of a sign that says what we are.  It does not say “Fun House Exit.”  It says the name of our museum.  I know that the employees of the Fun House tell you where their exit is.  They say it’s in the store next door.  We are not the store.  I don’t know why you come to our museum asking us if we are the exit to the Fun House.

So that’s it for this week’s Work Story.  I gave you reasons why I get annoyed by three questions that I get asked frequently, working where I work.  There are many other questions that are just as irritating, but those are the three that I chose to share this week.  I hope you enjoyed what I wrote this week because it was different than the usual.  I’ll see you next week when I write something else.

Until then, we have to destroy all closets!