Those of you who are new visitors to this blog may not know that the name "Ranger Sarah" is from the days when I worked as an NPS Park Ranger. I wanted a place to record all of the funny & crazy stories that come from working with the public. Here are some of those stories from 2 1/2 years ago, for your reading pleasure.
July 6, 2005:
Every once in a while, I'll encounter someone whose logic I cannot grasp. Take the following conversation, which took place on a cave trail with a 60-year-old man.
Man: So, what's your name again?
Me: Sarah.
Man: Oh, so are you Dutch?
Me: Um, no, I'm not.
Man: That's weird, because my mother's name was Sarah and she's Dutch.
August 3, 2005:
The other day I was walking through the cave, when I saw two guys standing by a pit with a ladder going down into it. It is an old ladder, falling apart, and is just there for display. It is attached to the top of the pit with a long metal pole that is embedded in the rock, and the ladder hangs off of that pole. The two guys seemed really fascinated with this metal pole. One says to the other, "Wow, how do you think they got that metal pole stuck in the rock like that?" His friend replies, "Maybe the rock was softer back then."
I've also come to the conclusion that not many people know how far a mile is. (It's 5,280 feet.) On the elevator, people always ask how far the elevator goes, and when I answer "750 feet," they will inevitably ask how many miles that is. One man even attempted to answer that question himself, saying, "Wow, that's like 2 1/2 miles!!"
August 8, 2005:
Working at the information desk, I've been asked all sorts of things. Mostly it's just "Where's the bathroom?" or "What time is bat flight?", but on occasion it gets interesting. One person recently even asked me what the meaning of life was.
Yesterday, however, I got a winner. A very old man asked me if I would go on a date with him. 75 years from now. In heaven.
Apparently, this old man (who is traveling with his wife) is going across the country trying to round up 288,000 dates in heaven, 75 years from now. Why this number? Who knows. After all, this man is asking people FOR DATES IN HEAVEN. When his wife came up to the desk, I said to her, "Did you know your husband is asking other women for dates in heaven?" She replied, "Yes," and smiled. I guess she's not planning on being there herself.
As to my answer, I told him that I didn't know what I'll being doing in 75 years, and I'd probably be busy that night.
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While I don't necessarily miss my job, I have to say that the entertainment value of encountering thousands of people a day was well worth it. Now, as a graphic artist, I encounter a whole other group of crazies. (Like the guy who wanted me to change the picture of the football player in his ad to one that looked "less gay." But that's a story for another day.)
