I was an usher again Thursday at UT's Graduate Hooding Ceremony. Next May, I plan to be one of the graduates and not an usher. However, it's fun to help out and be at the ceremony.
My job was to greet guests as they entered the Thompson-Boling Arena and help direct them to their seats, answer questions and pass out programs. As you can imagine, there are some interesting people who walk through the doors, so I thought I'd share some of my experiences.
One man and his family walked up to me, and after I handed them all programs, he said, "Where is the whites only section? I'm a racist. Where do you put the racists?" I was obviously caught off guard by his comment and after a second or so I said, "We got rid of that section a long time ago." He started laughing and claimed he was kidding. His wife looked horrified and said, "I'm so sorry. I can't take him anywhere!"
One of the other ushers stationed at another entrance came and told me someone had brought their little dog with him and was sitting in the audience. A little boy sitting near the dog is allergic to dogs, and his mother had complained. So I was the one who had to tell the folks their little doggie couldn't have a seat up front. I kindly told them animals aren't allowed and asked them to move to a seat in the back. The man tried to hide the dog at that point, and I told him there were people around him who are allergic to dogs. They moved to the back of the arena but he told me he was there first and didn't like being asked to move. Again, I said only service animals, such as seeing-eye dogs are allowed. His wife responded, "Well, she's a dog and she can see!" I just smiled and told them to enjoy the ceremony.
One couple came in 15 minutes after the ceremony and seemed confused. "We're here for the graduation. What do we do?" I told him it had already started, but the guest speaker was still talking, so he hadn't missed much. They proceeded to look through the program for another 5 to 10 minutes trying to find their daughter's name. They kept saying how confusing the program was, and I kept explaining it was separated by degrees. Then, they asked when their daughter's name would be called. I explained that students walk up on stage in a random order within their college or department. They don't walk alphabetically. They couldn't believe this and kept complaining about how unorganized everything was. I walked around the arena after they left to obtain more programs, and I saw them walking around as well, still confused about where to sit. I hope they heard their daughter's name and saw her walk across the stage!
During the ceremony, lots of people with children walk around since the kids aren't thrilled about being at graduation. One man was walking with his grandson who had braces on his legs. He was a cute kid and playing with an action figure, so I asked him about the toy. His grandfather was friendly and told me how his grandson was like Forrest Gump who also wore braces. He told me all about his condition, and I just listened. Then we realized a bird had made its way into the arena and was trying to get out. The man proceeded to tell me how a grocery store in his hometown of Huntsville, Alabama had a whole family of birds living inside the store, 7 of them! He hated it since the birds obviously use the bathroom on some of the food items at times. He told the owners he could get rid of them, but they seem to like having them inside. He talked for about 10 minutes about the birds, while his grandson was begging him to keep moving.
Unfortunately, Dolly Parton was honored with an honorary degree at the next day's ceremony, so I didn't get to hear her sing "Rocky Top" live on stage. It was still a fun experience. Congratulations graduates!
No comments:
Post a Comment