As soon as I got to work I was assigned a task I'd rather not have to repeat. Being that I've done this several times before however, I'll assume it will keep getting 'offered' to me. I had to go into the lobbies and tape down mats so nobody trips over them. It doesn't usually take too long, but the trick is not time management. The thing to worry about are the customers who run you over. I figured I solved this problem by closing down the doors only one side of the lobby at a time. Here's how that went...
I flipped the power to off on the enter side first, but I made sure to put a caution cone right smack in the middle of the door on both sides. This would warn people I am working here and that the doors were not open on this particular side. This soon created confusion when customer after customer would walk up to the door and just stop as they waited for it to open. A few would stand there a minute or two. Others would walk face first into the doors and bounce off, I rather did enjoy those moments. Some customers would tap or knock on the door as if to tell me something was wrong with it as I was working right in front of it. This clearly wasn't working and reminded me of how when a fly gets trapped inside, you must offer it a very obvious way out.
I went to the opposite side of the lobby, flipped the switch to manual open and cut the power. Now it would stay open for all to see. This door I was working on had caution cones and was closed. The other side was wide open with no signs in sight. This was working...until I switched to the exit side door.
Now I had already reversed things. The entrance doors were now wide open and the exit door closed. People were just walking around the cones (and me kneeling on the floor) and stood at the closed doors trying to get out. I thought maybe this wasn't obvious enough. So I pulled the remaining mats to be laid down and threw them down in front of the doors. Customers started walking around the cones and jumping the mats to get out, only to find a locked door. I needed to up my game a bit.
I barricaded the exit side with carts. Lined them all up, had rolled mats laying down, had caution cones, and I was kneeling in front of the door taping these suckers down. I wanted to face palm myself into a coma when I saw customers push their carts through the carts and complain how all this crap was in the way. One lady made it all the way to the door and seeing that it wasn't opening, just shoved her cart through popping both doors out.
I fixed the doors and laid down some tape fast, and crapily I may add, just to get the hell outta there. Job was done, I stood up and brushed the dirt off my pants. Timely as ever, someone comes out and tells me to do the other lobby as well. Folks...today was some kind of special I tell you what.
