I think we can all relate to the experience of being in a new job. That anxiety in your stomach the night before, that curiosity of just what they’ll have you be doing when you get there, how busy you might be, so on and so forth. You get there incredibly early because you don’t know how early they actually want you.
Despite all those new-job jitters, my first day at the tourism office was surprisingly laid-back. Honestly, my entire first week was the same way. My first week was mostly to get used to being in the office itself.
If you’ve never been out here, the tourism office is pretty straight forward. One big desk in the front, Freddie’s office in the back, and as many pamphlets, flyers and guides for the area you can think of sitting in five big magazine racks. If it’s something local, chances are we’ve got something about it here.
The more behind-the-scenes stuff is equally as usual for a little local office like ours. We have a tiny kitchenette where I have made more hot chocolates for myself since starting than I have probably in the last year, an attic space filled with things so old they were probably here before I moved to town as a child, and the back storage room filled with all the extras—guides, maps, pamphlets and so on.
My first Friday marked the first day we had actual tourists come in. I shouldn’t be too surprised; the first Friday in June was bound to get people popping in looking for local things to do. That day also marked the first time I was left by myself, and it was an interesting experience being here all by myself. Sometimes Freddie and Darla have meetings or other happenings that take them out of the office, so that leaves me to hold down the fort.
We only had a few in the hours I was here alone: an older couple just looking for local events, a gentleman by himself who was here for a weekend with family, another couple with their dogs looking for boat rentals and a fishing license. Everyone left with plenty of flyers and pamphlets. I’m fairly certain the gentleman by himself took two copies of the guidebook alone.
I have hopes that later on into the summer, we’ll start getting more people more often. Just a few sprinkled throughout the rest of the week, that sort of thing. I’m sure by July, we’ll pick up even a little bit.
Since this post is a little late, I can at least say we’ve had a decent little bit of traffic after my first week. Not a whole lot, but it’s not been quiet every single day. We’ve had a few scattered tourists coming in throughout the past week and a half. I still have my hopes for more people later on, though!
