So. I was working yesterday night and, well, Murphy's Law. Sob.
For the past two weekends, we've done Latin music concerts. Yesterday was the last one. IIRC it was Pedro Fernandez. My Hispanic coworkers hadn't heard of him and thought it wouldn't be too crowded (as opposed to when Selena's family was here Saturday night).
We were wrong.
In order to get into the concert, each guest must have a wristband. The normal ones are free, and there is also a $20 VIP one that gets you a meal and early entrance. There is a different line for each. I assumed that the point of the wristbands was to keep track of how many people were allowed into the concert and to prevent more people from coming in than the venue could hold. Either I was horribly wrong, or the amount of people that can fit into the theater was hugely overestimated.
I was the only person staffing the general admissions line. THE. ONLY. PERSON. I am a short girl who does not speak a word of Spanish. Clearly, nothing could go wrong. It didn't take very long for the line to grow past the entrance to the line. The entrance to the line is about two peoples' width across. There is another way in, but I blocked it off to prevent people from cutting. While in the line, people often left to get drinks and use the restroom. They wanted back in because their families were down the line. However, the people at the entrance didn't want to let them through for fear they would cut. I told them that they had lost their place and to go to the back of the line. Of course, no one listened. There was this huge mass of people where there should have been a line. And then they let the line in, and they were all squeezing in through the entrance. I thought a fight was going to break out, or someone would get trampled.
A bit later, I was moved to the front gate. And by moved to the front gate, I mean I was left at the front gate without being told what to do. The stadium was so full that they were keeping people out, even though they had wristbands. A lot of the people being kept out had family inside, so they were yelling at me to be let in. Then supervisors would come by and ask me why these people weren't being let in, and of course I didn't know. GDIT YOU GUYS HAVE THE RADIOS. Eventually, about 15 minutes into the concert, we got everyone in.
Also there were fights. And once when I asked a security guard what to do and he told me to pray. But that was the worst.
This weekend we have Christian concerts. I can only hope there will be less people. I would hope they'd make less of a mess, but... Well, at least I can hope for less beer bottles? Maybe? I heard one of the assistant supervisors talking about how he got cussed out over stroller parking last year. GG, Christians. Everyone at the last few concerts has been very polite, even with management dropping the ball.
For the past two weekends, we've done Latin music concerts. Yesterday was the last one. IIRC it was Pedro Fernandez. My Hispanic coworkers hadn't heard of him and thought it wouldn't be too crowded (as opposed to when Selena's family was here Saturday night).
We were wrong.
In order to get into the concert, each guest must have a wristband. The normal ones are free, and there is also a $20 VIP one that gets you a meal and early entrance. There is a different line for each. I assumed that the point of the wristbands was to keep track of how many people were allowed into the concert and to prevent more people from coming in than the venue could hold. Either I was horribly wrong, or the amount of people that can fit into the theater was hugely overestimated.
I was the only person staffing the general admissions line. THE. ONLY. PERSON. I am a short girl who does not speak a word of Spanish. Clearly, nothing could go wrong. It didn't take very long for the line to grow past the entrance to the line. The entrance to the line is about two peoples' width across. There is another way in, but I blocked it off to prevent people from cutting. While in the line, people often left to get drinks and use the restroom. They wanted back in because their families were down the line. However, the people at the entrance didn't want to let them through for fear they would cut. I told them that they had lost their place and to go to the back of the line. Of course, no one listened. There was this huge mass of people where there should have been a line. And then they let the line in, and they were all squeezing in through the entrance. I thought a fight was going to break out, or someone would get trampled.
A bit later, I was moved to the front gate. And by moved to the front gate, I mean I was left at the front gate without being told what to do. The stadium was so full that they were keeping people out, even though they had wristbands. A lot of the people being kept out had family inside, so they were yelling at me to be let in. Then supervisors would come by and ask me why these people weren't being let in, and of course I didn't know. GDIT YOU GUYS HAVE THE RADIOS. Eventually, about 15 minutes into the concert, we got everyone in.
Also there were fights. And once when I asked a security guard what to do and he told me to pray. But that was the worst.
This weekend we have Christian concerts. I can only hope there will be less people. I would hope they'd make less of a mess, but... Well, at least I can hope for less beer bottles? Maybe? I heard one of the assistant supervisors talking about how he got cussed out over stroller parking last year. GG, Christians. Everyone at the last few concerts has been very polite, even with management dropping the ball.