From whence they came…

At work, we have some maps up and try to encourage people to mark where they are from with pins. At the end of every week, we take the pins down and “reset” the maps. I took down the old maps the other day because certain areas (like Hartford, CT and the Netherlands) were completely obliterated, but it was really interesting to see the distribution of all the pins. Here are some pictures (and proof, if you’ve ever needed it, that people come from every continent to visit Boston):

Visitors from the South Pacific

Visitors from Europe, Asia Minor, Northern Africa

Visitors from Africa

It will be interesting to see how the map morphs and changes over the next few weeks as most of our visitors will be from New England and Western Europe. Most of our cruise ships are carrying people from the New York/New England area or Britain to Canada and back again, so probably fewer South Africans or people from the South Pacific, but who knows!

Strange Maps

I have no idea how I found this website, but it comes from another WordPress user. Strange Maps is a quirky blog that shows, well, strange maps! Today’s visit to their site showed the original SatNav tools that existed in Britain from the 1920s. Who knew that they made watches that you could put scrolls into and then go on a journey? Maybe this is where the people from TomTom and others got the idea?

Other interesting maps include the breakdown of what people in certain parts of the US call soda. Local nicknames are one of those unique things about a specific place (My grandparents called soda tonic) and make them more real.

Now excuse me, I have to go shiver and sneeze on the couch while watching “What Not to Wear” and lust after having people pick clothes that fit and match out for me.

A Tale of Extremes…

My job puts me into contact with a lot of different people from all over the world. I have met people from each continent except Antarctica and each state.

Some are sweet and love you the minute that you smile at them and ask if they need any help. Others come in with an attitude and will hate you the minute you open your mouth. The last two days, I have had more extremes come in than ever before. Maybe its the weather that is affecting people, who knows.

Today was the third time in two days that I have been yelled at by people because I wouldn’t give them extra maps. One man claimed that he had paid us for his maps and got rather angry when I told him that we did not sell our maps. Another one demanded 40 maps for his group…this one made me a little angrier because it was a German group and then he asked me to help him plan his tour out. I doubt they got a good tour.

Today’s winner, though, was a young man who is about to be married. He started off by praising the place I work and the maps that we have and then asked if he could have a whole big bunch. I gave him one and told him that he could photocopy it…and then 10 minutes later I was giving him the name of my supervisor because I wouldn’t give him (a taxpayer) all the maps that he wanted.  Such a jerk about it also…he threatened to go to my top boss. Doesn’t seem worth it, does it?

In the end, I won and he left. I think that my control of my temper and reaction to people getting mad at me have both improved incredibly this year because of work. Nothing like getting a slightly tougher skin, right?