You can't be a private owner of one of these things and expect that people
will not be intrigued by them and use whatever faculties they feel are their
right to use to appreciate them. Sad commentary about public sense and
faculties that one of the first things to come in contact with the vehicles
is the buttocks when they sit in them, but that is for another discussion...
I agree that people should be respectful of vehicles, but you are also
asking for it when you walk away from your display. I know that the
attractions of a show where we display our vehicles are some times more of a
draw to us than to listen for the 10,000th time that somebody's Grandfather
saw Patton piss in the Rhine out of your very vehicle. But you did
volunteer, remember? Doing public displays is not easy, and requires some
planning and work. When you do go to a public display, here are some
suggestions.
1. Don't go alone. Take a partner to spell you from answering questions.
Establish safe zones for people to get around your vehicle. Park it and
CHOCK it.
2. Don't wait for people to make an advance on your display. When somebody
approaches, greet them before they greet you. This gives them notice that
you are the owner, and establishes you as the authority to go through to do
anything with the display.
3. Give a tour of your display. If some one is genuinely interested, they
will follow you around and listen (potential recruit for your organization).
If they are not, they will wait until you say your first sentence, listen
politely, and then tell their kids it's time to go. If you leave people up
to their own devices, they will take charge and do whatever they think is
right. If you take point on this and start talking right away, they don't
have a chance to think for themselves.
4. If you have problems with people doing unwanted things to your display,
be very polite. Most people will respond to this immediately. If you
bristle, raise your voice, or act authoritative, the chances are greater
that you will provoke them instead of stopping them, and you will look like
the jerk to other observers.
As mild as this stuff seems, it really works. It is basically the same
stuff I use to handle Psychiatric patients (no joke) and was developed for
many of the same reasons- to handle people who respond inappropriately in
public situations.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Dec 03 2000 - 20:29:54 PST