Friday, August 21, 2009

I'll Tell You Where to Go!

I work for a company that tells people where to go. And I love it! Seriously, I work for AAA and part of our job is to map out destinations for people so they can drive there without getting lost. And it's amazing the array of people we have that come in. There are the ones who aren't leaving until next January and would like their Routing to be done NOW......so they can plan.....and book hotels........think they're already packed???? There are the ones who are leaving to drive from New England to Texas this afternoon. "Have you booked any hotels? " I ask. "We're going to 'wing it'" is the answer. There are those who've been to Florida every winter for the past 20 years, yet still need the Routing. AND they know how they want to go. "Straight down 95, but take me around Baltimore and DC and for Gosh sake, don't make me go straight through Richmond." And there are those that have no idea where they want to go. "I just want to get away......where do you recommend?" Today a gentleman came in wanting to go see some Moose. I mapped him a trip to Moosehead Lake, Maine. Then he says, "And I want to see the penguins up there too". Huh? Penguins in Maine. I looked askance at his wife.....she just shrugged. "I don't think there are any penguins in Maine," I say to him. "The funny looking ones," he says. I actually had to Google "penguins in Maine" to figure out that he was looking for Puffins! I routed him over to Bar Harbor and told him to take the whale watching/puffin watching cruise. Overall, it's fun to tell people where to go.

8 comments:

kenneth frank said...

this makes me miss my own time as a travel agent! telling people what arrondissements they would like best in Paris or what tube pass to buy in London (when I hardly knew myself)! Google is definitely your friend in the travel business.

kenneth frank said...

Oh, and I definitely remember the early worms versus the last minute travelers.

"We're going next spring and just want to book everything now..."

vs.

"I'm on a flight tomorrow, can you FedEx the tickets to me overnight??"

Travel habits really reflect on personalities and lifestyles. It takes all kinds!

Laura said...

Oh that is funny! We just had a cross country trip - first across Canada and then we crossed over the US and came back that way.

At one CAA office a traveller was asking what to go see - he was from Italy - the gal suggested the gondulas - he almost bit her head off - He coudl see those at home - he wants to see BLACK BEARS!

It was so funny!

I admire your patience!

Colleen - the AmAzINg Mrs. B said...

What a great story! What a {probably sometimes)fun job..I bet you could write a book :-)

Kaye said...

Whaaaaa??? Penguins in Maine? Funny looking ones??? Hellooooo You should have sent him to the Galapagos or Australia or the Boston Acquarium for crying out loud. Who the hell wants to see moose anyway. Caution Moose Crossing signs implies watch out for these big things. You don't want to see any. I bet you have a lot of fun at your job. Do you have a pool every day for the "craziest customer"?

RoeH said...

Can I be your assistant? Or anything?

RoeH said...

And actually it's never occurred to me that people actually go to a service to have this done. I've never heard of it. And all these years I dug followed maps? This is one of those "whuuuuuut?" moments. :)

Bingo said...

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http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com/2009/08/thanks-to-libby-for-some-special-awards.html