The Olympics bring out the best in people, and on rare occasions, the worst.
Wednesday, was a picture perfect day at Whistler Creekside and a great day for the women’s downhill. By now most of you know that the Americans took first and third and that unfortunately at least 6 skiers fell and did not finish. One, the sole Romanian Olympian, was seriously injured, requiring a helicopter to airlift her off the mountain.
I was assigned to team lead at the seating stands. As the attached picture of me shows, it can be quiet and serene before the hoards of spectators arrive. And they started to arrive 2.5 hours before the 11am start. I had 6 hosts working with me who were great at directing people to their seats and dealing with unusual situations as they arose. The venue has a capacity of over 7000 spectators, over half in the seating area.
It was a busy day; helping people get into the venue and then out in an orderly way. There were many situations to try to resolve and many stairs to walk up and down numerous times to check on the hosts and make sure they were rotated around the different positions. Some were standing at the bottom of the stairs behind the stands and were cold, others were on the stands and were in full sun but saw the hill, large screen and were amist the excitement.
The best of people were those that were pleasant when told they could not sit in the accessible seating area or who waited patiently while seating mishaps were clarified. One volunteer, working as an official translator for the Andorra delegation, was so eager not to make trouble for me that she gave me one of her country’s coveted pins. Two points for the first person who knows where the Principality of Andorra is.
The “bad apples” that made the day harder were members of the media who refused to go to their designated “mixed zone” area at the foot of the finish line and insisted on taking “only one picture” with their huge telephoto lens while wearing a huge back pack and blocking access for people trying to walk behind them. There were several volunteers not working who felt entitled to sit in accessible seating to watch the race and did not want to leave. That was a difficult situation for me as who could blame them for wanting to see a great event after having put so much time into the games yet they did not have tickets for the event.
The bad apple prize goes to the man who could not stand because of a bad knee and wanted to sit in the accessible area on his own stool. That was fine. However when asked to produce his ticket, he reluctantly brought out a ticket for Feb 14 and very forcefully claimed it was valid because the original race was postponed (it wasn’t). When he took his hand out to strike me and asked for a manager, I backed off and let the people paid the big bucks deal with him.
Despite the long day with no time to eat or drink, the experience continues to be inspiring. Each day I meet more people that have come from all over the country or further afar who want to be part of the Olympics. Everyone I have been working with is pleasant and keen to help in whatever way they can. The management of Events Services are great and supportive. They have been working 12 hour days for weeks and will not have a day off during the Olympics!
After the long day (5:30 to 3pm) I drove back to Vancouver, taking my sister and nieces to the airport. Time for a few days at home to relax and recoup before heading up again on Sunday for another day. 
Tags: Feldenkrais Method, olympic experience, Olympic volunteer, Vita Kolodny