I have spent my lunch on the amazing and terrifying "Not Always Right" website, where customer facing staff share the things that their customers do and say which amuse, delight or disturb them. I can't recommend their museum section enough. The vast majority of museum visitors are polite, open minded, intelligent and fun. That small section who are rude, ignorant and just plain dumb generate some great stories though. And then there's the children... A tale that made me laugh is below, and you can (and should) read more here: http://notalwaysright.com/tag/museum (I work in a museum in Scotland, where I do activity sessions for young children. I am showing them some artifacts that were originally brought to Scotland by the Romans.) Me: “These were brought to Scotland around 2000 years ago by an invading army. Who do you think this could’ve been?” Child: “Hitler!” Me: “Well, it was a bit early for Hitler.” Child: “Robert Burns!”
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On Facebook someone queried why recording would be an issue, as they thought the main problem with photography was the use of a flash.
In some places, for some objects, it is a major issue of copyright and security. So something privately owned may be shown by a gallery or museum, and part of the agreement is that the owner retains all rights to any images etc, and/or no images can be taken of the cabinet/alarm wires/wall fixtures. (the security/images issue can also sometimes arise in insuring certain items) So the staff then have to try and prevent visitors from taking images of the object and it's surroundings. Frustrating, but at least it gets objects from private collections, or which would otherwise be prohibitive to insure and publicly display, on show. You know that you know someone who will appreciate this, either as a staff member or a put upon teacher trying to herd students and disinterested colleagues around . Stick a copy in the staff room and be prepared for the next visit!
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops has been giving me a good laugh lately, which is a tumbler feed using popular animated gifs to express the shop staff's reactions to blinders such as: When a customer asks for a book with a photograph of Jesus in it That time I caught a customer having too much fun with a cope of the Karma Sutra There's also a lot more compiled as an amusingly illustrated book well worth a reccy for a disbelieving laugh at things that have been said and done, and the second volume is coming soon. Go and have a look for a giggle. This weekend coming I'm hiking 25 miles over Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon, plus travelling, eating and trying to sleep, in under 30 hours. As an indicator of what the weather usually does, when we went up Scafell PIke as a practise walk someone uttered "My god, I can actually see it. I don't think I've ever seen Scafell before, just walked up and down it...". I doubt I'll get to enjoy the scenery we're walking through!
Trekking up three wopping hills is our way of being thankful that we're still fit and healthy, and in order to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. If you fancy encouraging some nutters and helping a good cause, you can donate at http://www.justgiving.com/The-Sangria-Pact or just send a text to 70070 that reads PACT99 and then £5 or £10, or whatever your donation is. |
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February 2023
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