Sitting
I spend a lot of my job standing. Stand and wait for PDX Valet customers to pull up in their cars, stand as I get their info, walk around photographing their vehicles, stand where I can give directions to people who wound up in the wrong place. Obviously I sit while driving those, to and from our lot, but it becomes important to, eventually, sit.
When the now-completed expansion of the PDX terminal was still in progress, places pre-security where you could were scarce, then became scarcer. Going onto the concourse was an option, but that takes time. My company understands that just getting to where you can take a break takes a while in a big terminal like this, so we get 20-minute breaks instead of the mandated-by-law 15-minute ones, but sometimes (with bathroom trips or trips to a convenience mart or restaurant) it’s still not enough. And, come to think of it, anyone traveling should have first crack at places to sit and to rest. It’s not all about me.
(You hear me, me?)
But now, we have space. So much more space. It’s at least triple the size of the pre-security space we had during the two years it took to build the new part of the terminal; maybe it’s quadruple.
AND WE HAVE MORE SEATS. Benches, bucket seats, cushioned seats, and stadium-like risers leading up to the new mezzanine. More room for you and more for me.
And, and, there’s another potential benefit: more places I can sit without people seeing me. Because, as much as I try to help people and give directions or info and advice when they need it, sometimes,
sometimes,
I JUST WANT TO SIT. To be by myself, and rest, and maybe think about stuff not related to the job. It’s the curse of the uniform: people think you know stuff.
Anyway. Sitting is nice.
When the now-completed expansion of the PDX terminal was still in progress, places pre-security where you could were scarce, then became scarcer. Going onto the concourse was an option, but that takes time. My company understands that just getting to where you can take a break takes a while in a big terminal like this, so we get 20-minute breaks instead of the mandated-by-law 15-minute ones, but sometimes (with bathroom trips or trips to a convenience mart or restaurant) it’s still not enough. And, come to think of it, anyone traveling should have first crack at places to sit and to rest. It’s not all about me.
(You hear me, me?)
But now, we have space. So much more space. It’s at least triple the size of the pre-security space we had during the two years it took to build the new part of the terminal; maybe it’s quadruple.
AND WE HAVE MORE SEATS. Benches, bucket seats, cushioned seats, and stadium-like risers leading up to the new mezzanine. More room for you and more for me.
And, and, there’s another potential benefit: more places I can sit without people seeing me. Because, as much as I try to help people and give directions or info and advice when they need it, sometimes,
sometimes,
I JUST WANT TO SIT. To be by myself, and rest, and maybe think about stuff not related to the job. It’s the curse of the uniform: people think you know stuff.
Anyway. Sitting is nice.