Anime Expo 2009 thoughts, Day 0

Not exactly one of the smoothest days I've had, as I began my new role with Frank Cheng's Bag Check team. The one positive I could take from this was that I was able to prepare our work space and run through the courses of action. That, however, was the only thing that went right. At my hotel, the Bonaventure, I ended up being served by incompetent people who did not know how to do their jobs, and a room key that did not work (which was later recoded to work).

But I think the worst part that happened was after the shift. Now, our staff had Yoshinoya bowls for dinner. I only took one from a bag. And that was it. It was a Beef Bowl. The other two were vegetable bowls, and I did not touch either of them. In fact, I offered one to another hungry staffer. He put that bowl in the box, while looking for a different bowl. The second bowl I ate was essentially out of the fact that if no one wants their bowl, what good is it to waste it? So I finished it, and disposed it. And then the managers there tell me that that was it.

There was no "Take One Bowl ONLY" sign. Where was that? And I don't even eat veggie bowls. The second was out of the fact that this would have been wasted. Just abut everyone else had their share. I offered to explain the situation to my div head, my good friend Liz Wang, but she didn't want to hear it. I mean, come on now. This bowl would have been thrown in the trash, if no one took it. Someone else could have taken it, and I would have been happy with that. I wanted the Beef Bowl anyway. Now, if that was reserved for someone, I can offer to pay for another on me. That's no problem. But the last thing I want is to have this frustration to boil over and set the tone for the con on the wrong foot.

I mean, get over it guys. This is not the biggest issue we have. We have four days to help people get to where they need to go and to help make AX 09 a success. I can help refurbsh the lost meal. This is nothing. I wasn't trying to be greedy or anything. No one told me when I came in to wait for someone to determine this and that. I can't be shouldering a great deal of the blame.

But at the same time, I can sympathize with Liz. She had to go up and down to look at the people at the Reg lines, look at the shuttle lines, look at other areas in her division and other divisions, and so on. I hope she gets over it, because I want Frank to tell her that I have done well with the Bag Check team.

The blunders and mistakes I had on Day 0 I know will be outweighed by bigger and better things to come. I'm not gonna let this get to me. This will be a spur for me to do some carpe diem in my new surroundings. It starts now.

-JR Salazar, Bag Check, July 1, 2009

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