The Weather Is Miserable But The Customer Is Worse

I’m a member of the choir volunteering my help before the concert, but I’m not actually part of the front of house staff, as I’ll be on stage during the concert itself.

It’s about an hour before the concert starts, and the front of house staff are still inside the hall finishing their safety briefing. The bar is ready to serve people and has some seats, so as there are a few customers already waiting, we open the main doors. I’m sent to the entrance to the ticket sales/collections desks to stop any customers coming through.

Me: “I’m afraid we’re not quite open for tickets yet, but the bar is just down there if you’d like a drink or somewhere to sit down.”

Grumpy Man: “Why did you open the doors if you’re not ready to sell tickets? That’s so unprofessional!”

Me: “I’m very sorry, but the front of house staff haven’t finished their briefing. We opened the doors because the bar is open.”

Grumpy Man: “It’s what you’d expect from a tiny country town, not in the city!”

My “boss,” the choir president, comes up behind me.

Boss: “They’re finishing the safety briefing, which we have to have. It will only be a couple of minutes.”

Grumpy Man: “You can’t expect people to pay good money if you have this kind of amateur communication skills. It’s completely ridiculous.”

The hall doors open and the front of house staff come out and go to the ticket desks.

Me: “Tickets are now available if you’d like to come through.”

I still have no idea why he was so offended. It was cold and raining outside; most people would have liked to come into the lobby.