I admire people who are good explainers: informing other people that A is A and B is B at times when A and B are perhaps not clear. I want to hear someone say "oh, okay."
Today at work was a day with more explaining than I usually do. Certain issues come up in this job, mainly when people wind up where they aren't supposed to be. Maybe they pull into the valet parking area and park wrong. Maybe they go into the parking garage and wind up walking into the valet parking cage.
Here's why we call it "the cage": it's enclosed by a chain-link fence. Usually only one gate is open. (There's a second gate we can open if needed, but in my brief time working this job I have yet to see it opened.) That gate has a street-legal DO NOT ENTER sign next to it. And people still walk past that sign, and get in the cage, sometimes far into it, before realizing something is off.
If I see someone doing that, I need to talk to them and help them out. And help them out. (Two different meanings, yo!) I tell them "Hi, I'm Chris with Valet. This is the Valet cage. Your car isn't here." Don't get too close to them; I don't want them to feel trapped, or infringed upon. Let them know which way the gate is. Make sure they leave and look for their vehicle elsewhere in the garage. Keep it simple, Chris: they're in the wrong place, and the right place is that way.
I also remind myself: They may not have seen the literal fence because they don't expect to see it. Why would there be a fence in a garage?
Anyway. I'm thinking about this because this has somehow happened a lot at work this week. And I hope when it happens, I explain it well enough.
I hope I explain well enough each time I explain, because I'm too good at confusing people and I'd like to be less good. At that. Less good at that.
P.S. Because I'm me, I can too easily imagine finding someone walk into the valet cage, telling them your car isn't here...and learning that the person is a valet customer. But that's almost certain not to happen.