lessons learned.

the beginning of summer
i stood in front of my cinder block. my station for the night.
i still felt new.
i was still nervous, when patrons asked me where their seats were i was almost guessing.
i leaned across the promenade and asked for help finding J2. turns out J2 was the section right next to me.
i felt a fool but i built confidence with each seating.
smiling patrons hand me their tickets.
row 9 seats 36-40.
easy i thought.
small chat grew as i walked them up. instant dismay.
the group i had sat only twenty minutes earlier was in row 9.
i checked tickets and compared them.
i was wrong.
my first mistake.
i made a mistake.
i apologized and asked the group currently in row nine to move down to row six because i had made a mistake.
mistake.
6 or 9. 9 or 6.
they smiled, they cracked jokes. not the woman in the middle.
contrary to her friend's positive attitudes she mumbled angrily under her breath.
"this is a nightmare"
i felt a pit in my stomach. i asked if i could help and apologized again.
"yes, you will carry this for me."
i did what she said.
"i'm so sorry, i really am. i'm sorry."
her friends reassured me it was okay but she was disgusted at my inaccuracy. i carried her couscous and held her jacket for her. finally everyone was moved
i sat the groups where they meant to be.
they thanked me and i apologized.
i felt sick all day, afraid to look up at their section because she might still be angry at me. there might be another problem and her enraged glares gave me chills. never letting me live it down.
numb to the beautiful music i quizzed myself in my head about all of my sections and the seating patterns.
a man in a yellow shirt walked briskly by.
he pointed at me, he smiled.
"i really appreciate what you're doing, keep it up!"
i remember his face.
he made me smile.
i try to not make mistakes, when i do i remember that beacon of light.
my little sunshine man.
thank you man in a yellow shirt.

two hours ago
i walked in line oblivious of the situation at window three.
as i very slowly made it near the front of the line i started to over hear the discussion.
this asian couple kept shaking their heads and repeating themselves. the woman would get heated and storm away and then walk back the next few seconds just to interrupt and say the same thing her husband had just been saying. both of them kept interrupting the man at the desk to say the words he was saying in unison with him.
"no, he was wrong. not today. impossible."
"yes ma'am that's just what i was telling him, impossible."
"yes yes, tomorrow?"
"yes ma'am we have one that leaves tomorrow at 8:36"
"leaves tomorrow?"
"it leaves tomorrow at 8:36 here from San Francisco"
"oh, no thank you, we can not stay until tomorrow."
"i just told you that it is impossible to go today."
"we need an earlier flight."
"the earliest flight we have is tomorrow at 8:36, i just told him that."
"he was wrong, not today."
"ma'am let me repeat myself, there are no flights leaving today for hong kong and the earliest flight i can get you on tomorrow is 8:36."
"no, no thank you, did you check all the airlines?"
"yes i checked them all there are no flights leaving all of the west coast today, you will have to leave tomorrow."
"they said there was a flight with united to hong kong."
"there was one sir but that was the flight you missed. the only flights today were at 1:30 and 1:35 and it is now 1:48."
"did you check the computer?"
"sir, all the information i am giving you is from the computer i am not just thinking of it off the top of my head."
"can we get a flight tonite?"
"let me repeat myself, please try to listen. there is no way we can have you leave today for hong kong. you will have to fly out tomorrow."
"no thank you, we have to go."
"there are no seats, i am sorry."
"no SEATS? you said no flights. when you say nothing do you mean seats or flights?"
"seats sir, we can no get you any seats until tomorrow."
"so there ARE flights?"
"well, yes sir but we can no get you onto them, any of them, you still have to wait until tomorrow."
"all of these people think that they speak english but you just had said there are no flights and now you tell us there are flights."
after forty five minutes and a call to CSC and the man's supervisor i saw the couple storm away with their new boarding passes.
i heard them mumbling things in a foreign language and then i caught the woman saying "i can not stay twenty four more hours here."
i was called forward to the window.
i presented my problem, no flight, work, running, delayed flights.
he scratched his brow and typed my name into the computer.
he asked if i wanted an aisle seat. i made a joke.
he smiled.
he ripped my old boarding pass into pieces and threw it into the trashcan.
i smiled as he handed me my new flight, later than i wanted, ultimately making me late for work.
i thanked him for his efforts, "by the way, you're doing a great job, thank you."
he smiled.