I think I've probably repeated those words about 1300 times.
Tonight, I'm going to take a step back from reminiscing about my PR co-op work terms where I could tell you tales of wonderful times spent with wonderful people. But let's skip the boring stuff and get to the good stuff. This is a tale from one of my most hilarious summer jobs aboard the Ole Harbour Hippo in Charlottetown, PEI.
It started out back in the summer of grade 11 where I worked as a guinea pig tour guide during the Harbour Hippo's first season. I was hired along with two other guides to test how well the tour company would do in the scorching summer heat (it wasn't always hot, but I thought I should add something melodramatic).
So let's back up to the beginning- the interview. Let me tell you, the interview was no walk in the park. It was made up of the usual "tell me a bit about yourself" questions AND a skit. Yes, a skit. So, there I was, on the 3rd floor of a rented office building acting as if I were cruising around downtown on this large, red hippopotamus. Tough to do? Yep. I had to rack my brain and come up with something, anything. I had to imagine myself out on the water, guiding riders around the Charlottetown harbour. Thinking of random anecdotes to tell and history lessons to teach seemed impossible. Simply put, this wasn't easy.
After the interview, I left feeling unsure...and awkward. I mean, really, this was one of my first real interviews, and I had to pretend I was on a boat. So I was ecstatic, to say the least, when I was selected for a position out of the millions (ok...maybe not millions, but a lot) of applicants. My boss even went as far as saying that he was impressed, in particular, by my skit.
Heading to work the next week I was feeling excited, ready to be an AMAZING tour guide and to meet some wonderful, and not-so-wonderful people. One of the best parts of my job was meeting hippo riders who were eager to learn more about PEI, and even share stories with me about their life adventures. Some shared more than just their adventures. I mean, from time to time, I did get the odd creepy man, who would wink and pass me a twenty, but for the most part, I legitimately met some cool people.
So where's this story going? Well, sometimes you just need a reality check. And back then, in grade 11, I really needed one. For the entire summer, my boss talked me up, gave me daily compliments on how well my tours were going, and the hippo riders were doing the same. But, I was out to prove them all wrong, let them know that everyone has off days.
Now, this particular off day wasn't one of those "I spilled coffee all over myself" or "I locked myself out of the kiosk," no no, this one was bad.
After a draining day of meeting close to 300 people (2 cruise ships had come in that day at 7 am), I eagerly bolted shut the Hippo's heavy door on my last cruise for the evening. Typically, evening cruises were low key, calming on the water, and an overall chill experience. So, as I'm getting everyone on-board, a car alarm goes off. I heard a man loudly yelling "wait.. WAIT." So thinking of my perfect self, I can't possibly be doing anything wrong, and this man just needed to shut off his car alarm. Not even for a second thinking that the car alarm could be JUST A COINCIDENCE (which it was), I looked at the man. He had this painful look on his face, and I thought to myself, "settle down sir... no one is gonna steal your car." As my egotistical thought bubble disappeared, I followed the man's eyes down to his wiggling hand which was mangled and jammed in the heavy boat door. My fault.
No joke, I had eagerly squeezed and locked in this man's hand. Ugh. Panicking, I quickly (which felt like 3 hours) was able to free the man's hand, and begged for his forgiveness. Ok, not actually, but I truly apologized about 47 times. I offered the man ice, water, a gold throne, whatever I could think of. He said he was fine and to go ahead with the tour. Thank god, because I actually had no ice or water left from my long day of tours.
So the tour went on, and I performed the way I would have if I didn't almost kill a man. When the tour ended, I began to give myself a mini lesson on reality. The fact that people do make mistakes, and accidents happen. And just as I was coming to terms with the fact that I was no longer a perfect 16 year old tour guide, the man passed me a ten sheet with his puffy red hand.
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