August 11, 2004 - How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

August 11, 2004 - How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Recently, I spent 10 days traveling with my family and The Gryphon. The first leg of this was a beach vacation at the Jersey shore. During the second portion of my vacation, I served as a staff member for the 2004 Otakon in Baltimore.

The registration line

Day Seven: Delicious and Good Day (Friday, July 30)

The Gryphon and I got up early enough on Friday to make it to the BCC by about 8 a.m. However, we just couldn't get ourselves in gear. Plus, we stopped for some bagels, at which time I cut myself trying to slice open a bagel.

So I arrived right at the tail end of training for registration for that morning. Throughout the day, I got shifted around several times throughout the day. First, I was doing regular registration in the Sharp Street Lobby, for which the line was fairly impressive and visible from the skywalk above.

In Sharp Street, I had a very helpful line control helper, a staffer in costume who guided people to my booth as if she were directing traffic. Not once did I have to yell, "Next!" or wave my arms.

When they had processed enough people that they had different needs, they brought me back to the Pratt Street lobby to handle preregistration. From there, I moved to the trouble desk.

The trouble desk was a little tricky. It was usually people who had pre-registered, and the first thing we had to try was to search for their name a different way. For example, anyone with an Italian name that was broken into two words, like De Luca, posed problems. Then, if you didn't find anything, you could find out if they were registered under a group name or if there was another issue.

Processing these people took longer, but when you were able to resolve it to their satisfaction, it was very rewarding.

Finally, I moved from the trouble desk to regular registration again, this time in Pratt Street.

I did take breaks during slower periods. During a morning break, I went down to Video Ops to look for my friend, The White Rabbit. He was dashing off with a tape in his hands, shouting over his shoulder, "I'm late! I'm late!"

Instead, I hung out for awhile and talked to the people who were staffing Video Ops. An Astro Boy toy was toddling around the room, wearing sunglasses. The Video Ops staff joked they were going to see about getting him a badge.

At about this time of day, I realized I had a doppleganger on staff. On more than one occasion, people said hi to me and greeted me as if they knew me, when I didn't know them at all. At first, this didn't seem odd, because working registration, you see a lot more faces than you can remember.

But these people claimed they knew things about me which simply weren't true, such as that I had supposedly worked the Otakon T-shirt table last year. One of them asked me about my little girl. I began to wonder who it was on staff who might bear a resemblance to me.

For lunch, The Gryphon and I found a quiet staff room and ate with one of the staff members who happened to be an EMT. She and I shared notes on migraines, and she told me about her talcum powder allergies, rendering her incapable of using powdered gloves.

She also kindly provided a bandage for my cut, which had begun to bleed a little. I also asked her for a pair of gloves, since the ones I'd used that morning were pretty nasty from handling all the money. I'd resolved not to get sick this year, like I did last, when I had a mysterious three-week head cold and throat infection immediately after Otakon.

I'd also resolved not to lose my voice from talking loud too often. When I needed to get the attention of the next person in line, I waved rather than shouted.

Not long after the lunch break with The Gryphon, I had to go help my sister and her fiancé get settled into the hotel room. I had promised to be waiting in the lobby around 2 p.m., when they expected to get there. They were supposed to call and let me know when they were leaving Stone Harbor, but they must have forgotten.

Back at the hotel room, where it was quieter, I called Dad and asked what time they'd left. He said they'd left about 11 and expected to arrive in Baltimore between 2 and 3. So I grabbed my latest book, headed down to the lobby and waited.

Every time the door opened, I looked to see if it was them. It's amazing how many people look my sister. But none of them was her, until close to 3 p.m. when she arrived in the lobby, looking sunburnt and exhausted, holding a garment bag high.

I fought my way over the crowded lobby and greeted them, helping them to the hotel room. "Good," she sighed. "I'm so glad to finally get here."

They hadn't had any trouble with the directions, but the traffic had been frustrating. They had about an hour to get ready before heading out for the wedding rehearsal and dinner for our friend who was getting married the next day. My sister was a bridesmaid, and her bridesmaid gown and rehearsal dress were in the garment bag.

So I sat on the bed and chatted with them while they got ready. They'd had a couple more sunny days in Stone Harbor, but Dad had never had a chance to go on a fishing boat. No one had wanted to go with him. There's always next time.

My sister was wearing to the wedding rehearsal the same dress she'd worn to my brother's wedding in 2001. She wasn't sure she liked it, which if I remember correctly was basically her response three years ago. But she had no other options with her and was obligated to stick with her choice.

I could have lent her something, but all I had were summery outfits, the black pleated miniskirt I was wearing, and the hippie skirts I'd bought in Stone Harbor.

After my sister and her fiancé caught a cab to the rehearsal, I returned and helped with registration some more. As it turned out, I was one of only a few people working when they had to do another shift of terminals from one end of the lobby to another.

I worked over the transition, meaning that it was awhile before I could take a break and join The Gryphon on his dinner break. We ate with some fellow staffers, having some noodles and salad and far too many chips and cookies.

Truly, it was a disastrous snack day for me, between people bringing me Gorp and fudge and rum cake, much as these things were appreciated at the time. One particularly interesting Japanese snack in Con Ops had an entertaining label.

When we returned to the BCC, the registration lines were small, and they didn't need me. I hung out at the Info Desk instead, helping out where possible.

The Gryphon's Info Desk staff was on auto pilot, so he and I took a little walk around the convention center. We got to see some of Otaku Idol, where people compete to sing karaoke songs and are judged by a panel.

We also noticed there was a huge line of people waiting to get inside the yaoi panel. We began to wonder if someone should be sent down to do line control for that. The Programming Head said he'd never anticipated so many people for that panel. The happy ending: they all fit in the room, with space to spare.

My sister called when she got back to the hotel room. After scrambling to find the right number to call her back at the hotel, she let me know that she wasn't interested in coming over to the convention that night but would drop in tomorrow. She and her fiancé were going to relax in the hotel room and get some sleep for the wedding.

Back in Con Ops, they had a list of things to improve for next year. One of my favorites was "explode remote button for radios."

While we were hanging out in Con Ops, the Reg Queen suggested who my doppleganger might be: someone who looked enough like me for confusion, who'd worked the T-shirt table last year and registration this year, had a child.

The Reg Queen suggested The Cousin, who met all those qualifications and has similar glasses and hair to me. She's taller than me, but if we're sitting down I suppose that wouldn't be as obvious.

I was thrilled, because I remember when I first met The Cousin, years ago, and I thought she was beautiful. I was really happy to be mistaken for her.

The rest of the evening, I hung out at Info Desk and helped The Gryphon when possible. One of his staffers was fun to talk to. She looked Hawaiian, I thought, with dark complexion and dark eyes. I found out later she's part Asian, which could explain it. She was a real feeder; she went to Burger King and brought back a vanilla shake for The Gryphon, without asking. In addition, she had baked brownies for the staff.

I chatted with her and the staffer who, that morning, had been so good at line control. Turns out she's dating the Vice Con Chair.

By the time we shut down the Info Desk, it was really late. Sad to say, we were up until 2 a.m. and didn't do any socializing aside from at the Info Desk. But that's OK. The next day I would spend the entire day with my sister and her fiancé, because of the wedding. I was looking forward to seeing Otakon the way a regular otaku sees it, in all its multicolored glory.

More from my Summer Vacation:

August 3, 2004 - Rainy Arrival

August 4, 2004 - The Poopdeck

August 5, 2004 - The Beach at Last

August 6, 2004 - Wetlands Hippie

August 9, 2004 - Intermittent Fun

August 10, 2004 - Overture to Otakon

August 12, 2004 - Costumes and Tuxedos

August 13, 2004 - Grand Finale

August 16, 2004 - Denouement

August 20, 2004 - More Vacation Pics

Musings on Otakon 2006: