What a Sunday

This weekend at the Event Center was Tahiti Fête, a three-day celebration of Polynesian dance and music. The main attractions of the event are the competitions on each day in the Arena, but the courtyard is filled with Hawaiian and Tahitian food vendors, apparel, and all things Polynesian. It's a really big deal as San Jose has one of the largest Polynesian populations outside of the islands. It's a travel destination as well with four major downtown hotels sold out to house the participants, spectators, and vendors.

Friday and Saturday went fine with no major issues except the occasional power outage to the outside vendors. They're long days as apparently the entire culture runs on "island time" and schedules are merely a suggestion, not some thing to hold firm. But, we know this going in so a 6:00pm end time on the schedule ends up being 10:00pm.

Then came Sunday. Most of this is from memory, but the time line is pretty accurate...

• I got a free coffee at 7-11 on the way to the Event Center. Little did I know at 7:30am this would be one of the day's high points.

• Fast forward to 9:00am... people are coming to the doors with red "standing room" passes to enter the arena. Apparently the organizers gave these red passes to the performing groups for entry into the building. The performing groups turned around and gave them to their friends and family to watch the event. So, we've got 5,000 paying ticket holders (a sell out) and upwards of 1,500-2,000 more people expecting to get in to see their family/friends perform. Not a good situation with a lot of pissed off people who drove and in some cases flew many hours to see their family/friends. We explained the situation to these people, worked out a compromise which allowed them to see their family/friends without breaking the law and exceeding building capacity. Some of these people were very nice and understanding. Some were not so nice but tolerated our helping them. Some were not nice at all. Mr. Policeman got to deal with them.

• Fast forward to 11:00am... we lose power to all outside vendor booths. Right around lunch time, so really rotten timing. Too many vendors firing up at the same time, causing a surge and tripping the electrical breaker panel. Thankfully, this is quickly resolved with no further power problems.
  

• Fast forward to 12:00noon... the 10:30 performers are just starting their routine, which places us 1 1/2 hours behind schedule. The flow of red pass holders has slowed, but the surly attitude has risen as the temperature outside cranked up to near 90. We're dealing the best we can. There's a lot of people that are going to hate me at the end of the day, but the State Fire Marshall is not going to be one of them.
  

• Fast forward to 3:00pm... the paramedic (EMT) has been running ragged with multiple calls. Most are not from the guests, they are from performers who haven't hydrated properly and are fainting and passing out during and after routines. Having not been practicing what he was preaching, I search out and find the EMT a bottle of water and a lemonade before he goes down too.

• Slow forward to 3:30pm... some of the food vendors on our upstairs patio are dumping used water after the lunch rush down our storm drains. The flow is too much, too soon and a nice leak has come through the ceiling into our weight room. Destroyed ceiling tiles and a small pond in the weight room results. We'll see if the water ruined any of the lighting fixtures.

• Fast forward again to 4:30pm... the 2:15pm act is just starting. The police and event organizers chase off an "unauthorized creepy photographer" who is trying to zoom into outdoor dressing tents and take pictures of the women dancers as they change costumes. Campus police alert the Library, the only other building open during the weekend, for this guy. Apparently he's a regular around these parts.

• Slow forward to 5:00pm... red pass holders have slowed considerably to a trickle. One of the bigger performances just ended and everyone got up simultaneously to use the restroom. The sudden and immediate loss of water pressure from all of the toilets flushing at once empties the reserve holding tank and trips the water pump alarm, shutting off all water to the public restrooms. The holding tank can not fill fast enough and the alarm keeps tripping to shut off water until the tank refills. So I spend the next two hours babysitting the water pump, resetting the alarm so we have water for the public. Eventually, people return to their seats to watch the next group of performers, giving the water tank time to fill.
  

• Fast forward to 7:00pm... the 4:30pm act takes the performance area. This means the 6:00pm awards ceremony will likely start around 9:00pm. Also, I got a hug from a sweet girl who lost her purse that we were able to return. She was so happy, probably the first truly joyful person I got to deal with all day. This hug easily surpasses the free coffee and becomes the highlight of the day.

• Fast forward to 8:30pm... updated schedule, awards ceremonies likely to start at 10:00pm. I finally stop to have my first food of the day. It's Thai BBQ and it's damn good. I squirt soy sauce out of the little packet all over myself. Fortunately I'm wearing black slacks.

• Fast forward to 11:00pm. As expected the 6:00pm then 10:00pm awards ceremony starts to close the weekend of Tahiti Fête. I'm outside helping the crew break down some tables and chairs when someone throws a mostly empty gallon water jug over the patio railing hitting me in the left shoulder and showering me with the water that was in jug. I'd be lying if I didn't say the water felt good. It ended up being some 8 year old kid who didn't look below before tossing it.

• Fast forward to 12:13am when the award ceremony concluded. I got home at 1:20am and relayed to you the events of the day. I smell like ass and taro leaves, but I'm too tired to shower. If I hide that stench under the covers I should be able to sleep ok. Kind of like a Dutch Oven but a Hawaiian Oven instead.
  

Obviously I've been in event management, damage and crisis control mode all day and too busy to remember how much my life sucks. At least I didn't have fire threatening my home and I didn't get stuff shoved up my ass. Fear not my 10 readers, my life still sucks sweaty camel balls so the angst will return at some point. Stay tuned in the coming days for topics like: Beating myself up on the outside, Running, The Truck Guy, a possible return of a former character and anything else that may arise that's noteworthy.