Here we are again folks for another installment of the amazing adventure called life. I want to pass along some more bizarre anecdotes from my years working with the public. I have to preface this by mentioning that a few years ago someone sent me a printout of something simply entitled, “Things They Said” which was a random list of things patrons asked or said to park rangers across the nation. Among these were, “Where is the valve to turn on the water?” which was asked at Old Faithful geyser. Also asked at that site was, “When does the guy get to sleep that turns the geyser on and off?”
At the Grand Canyon a ranger was asked, “Is this natural or man-made?” I used to get something similar when I was asked, “How did you build the mountains?” and “When did you build the mountains?” Once someone asked, “Did the Indians build these mountains?”
Interest piqued yet? Stay tuned. I used to man a five-storied stone building which overlooked the Hudson Valley with a view to four states. Some of the bizarre statements and questions I heard were, “This was built during the Revolution so General Washington could observe the Battle of Stony Point.” Really? Why didn’t the British see this being done and put two and two together and figure out something was up?
Someone once asked me if it had been carved out of the mountain. I should have said, “Yeah, an old man worked on it with hammer and chisel for a hundred years”.
I often compare notes with policemen, firemen, postal clerks, and even librarians who get some equally weird questions. Postal clerks tell me people come in and ask, “Can I get stamps here?” and “I don’t have to pay for the stamps do I?.” Sometimes people come in to argue with the postmaster about why their mail didn’t come today. And yes, even librarians get their share of idiots. One says people come in and ask, “Do you have books here?”
They’re everywhere folks and getting more common every day. YIKES!!