You see and hear a lot as a volunteer---sometimes even more than you would ever want to know. Especially if you work in the International Broadcast Center (which is where I was in 1996) or the Olympic Village, two venues that were designated as "high security" areas in Atlanta. I was fortunate to have two of the best bosses one could ask for. One guy worked at BellSouth, the other was retired from 30 years in the Navy.
You are guarenteed to run into situations that training never covered. In our particular office, we were instructed on how to handle everything from upset athletes (let them talk it out), defectors (lock them in the front office where we were, and don't let anyone else in for their safety, then notify law enforcement), to bomb calls (the form was tacked up right in front of our phone, and take the call very seriously, then notify law enforcement.)
One afternoon I got a phone call from a manager at a major European radio station. He was *very* upset with our security team and wanted to talk to someone NOW about it and said some items were taken away from him that he wanted back. Not sure what to make of this, I went downstairs to see what I could do, if anything.
I went into his office and sat down. He finished his phone call and turned to me. He said he'd come in for his daytime shift and wasn't very appreciative of the way he was treated. As I feel we in the IBC are in the service business, I asked him what items were taken and what I could do to help.
"I want my six-pack of beers back!"
Oh.
And---he was serious.
We had a rule in the IBC that no outside food or drink could be brought in. But I sensed this situation was different, due to the fact that said broadcaster got a bit verbally roughed up in the process. I said that I would see what could be done and went downstairs to talk to the security person in question. She admitted that she took the beers (it was close to 100 degress that day and I had a feeling where those beers were headed after she got off work.) I gently explained to her that I had an upset broadcaster downstairs, and I thought it was prudent that either 1: she return the booze or 2: he comes upstairs to claim the items. It was her choice.
Later on that day, I got a very appreciative call from the guy. He was enjoying a very cold brew (they had a fridge in the office) and it took the edge off what was a very rough day in his office.
Another day, I was talking to one of the maids that worked mornings. She was thisclose to quitting and I asked her why. "Have you SEEN the condition of the bathrooms in the mornings? It's nasty!" As my work schedule started at 10:30AM, I was not aware of the early-morning issues, although I got briefed by the girl who worked the night shift. But our fellow volunteer never told us *this*!
Seems the maid came in and found several used prophylatics, in both the men's and women's restrooms. 10,000 broadcasters. 2500 volunteers. You do the math. But leave me out of it!
On a more serious note, the day of Opening Ceromony challenged us the most. It was late afternoon and I was finishing up some paperwork when a woman came screaming into our office to evacuate right away. As I could see the West entrance from my office, and the looks of the people who already were leaving, I knew this was serious.
We were out for close to six hours. My boss was starting to think of sending people home, as it was getting dangerously too hot to be outside. Of all the times to be evacuated, this wasn't one of them.
We were let back in at 7PM. Later on that evening, we found out how serious it was. Apparently, a volunteer coming in for the afternoon shift found a box that looked strange. Strange it was: with a timer, wires, and what looked like dynamite attached. We later found out it was the real thing---and when I got home, seeing the bomb squad pull up to the front of the World Congress Center and how gingerly they handled everything gave me a sigh of relief. What I didn't care too much for was the spin afterward.
The next morning, I heard various stories about what happened. That it was a UPS test. Then it was a GBI training exercise. The version that was released to the public was some banal excuse.
I talked to one of the GBI guys and his eyes got real wide. "They said it was WHAT?" He shook his head. Then I got the real story, which was the same thing my boss got in a manager's meeting that afternoon.
I asked him what would have happened if...he said that NBC and CBC had contingency plans and everyone else would be sent home.
We in our office talked often about the sanitized version the public was being fed. And how us on the inside were getting the real story because we were living it every day.
That is one thing that really makes me upset---11 years later, Atlanta is still taking it on the chin about how the Games were run. Who can forget Juan Antonio Samaranch's comments at the Closing Ceromonies, a major diss, when he said that the Games were "most excellent" instead of the customary "best ever." There are some of us who worked pretty damm hard. I myself put in close to 80 hours a week for six weeks.
Next time I hear Juan Antonio shoot off his mouth about Atlanta again, I am jumping to the defense of thousands of volunteers who made the Games a success and who really cared about their service and their venues. It isn't fair to us who were there.
Let it go JAS. Or if you want to say something about Atlanta, make it a positive comment, because I know you saw many things we did RIGHT.
But then, the spin sometimes gets in the way.
