The So-Called Glitch Games
Excuse me if I vent a little, but this label, "The Glitch Games", has gotten under my skin a bit. You'd think anyone with 2 ounces of grey matter could figure this out, but apparently we need a big sign at the Atlanta city limits:
This city is hosting the largest peacetime event in the history of mankind....there MAY be a few inconveniences.
This concept is not complex, yet everyone has heard that the Atlanta Games are a big bust.
Well, sorry to interrupt everybody in the middle of a stoning, but it just ain't true. Every spectator I've talked to, and every conversation I've overheard, has been positive. Us regular folks are havin' the time of our lives, it's mainly the VIP-types that are complaining.
Please remember where you're getting this vision of doom...the media. It seems they've had some problems with delays getting to venues, a buggy computer system, and long lines, so they've lowered the lifeboats and declared a disaster. Allow me to make a few points, from the perspective of someone who attended seven events over the first seven days....
- The closed circuit transportation system the media is griping about is completely separate from the system us regular folks use. Funny how they fail to mention that.
- If the media gets off the press bus, and the free buffet is more than 150 feet away, they're gonna complain (after almost two decades dealing intimately with the media, I think I have a right to say that).
- For months, it has been made abundantly clear that you should allow two hours travel time on the transportation system to get to your venue. This figure has been uncannily accurate. Too bad so few paid attention to it.
- The media is cranky from the heat. They seem to have forgotten it is their job to be on the road, working under crowded, adverse conditions, while seeing events most of us only dream about. If you can't stand the heat.......Delta is ready when you are.
- If you repeatedly implore that people drink plenty of fluids, this will result in some long lines.
- When you explain that "fluids" means water, and that coffee and alcohol should not be consumed, as they are detrimental to fluid retention, the media gets really cranky....
- Then there's Info 96, the computer system to feed them results, administered by IBM. It has been so plagued with delays that some reporters call it Info 97. Perhaps they should have gotten a Mac....
Don't get me wrong, there have been transportation problems. I've waited over an hour for a bus that was supposed to run every 20 minutes. I've gotten on a northbound train that then headed south. Yes, the trains are crowded at times. But everybody must have forgotten to pack their common sense for the trip, because since the population of this city has more than doubled for the Olympics, you should expect some problems, or you're not living in the real world. If your home of 4, becomes a home of 8 or 9, it's gonna be crowded, it's gonna take longer to get into the bathroom, you're gonna get cranky, and if you work for a newspaper, you're gonna write about it. Now do you see Atlanta's dilemma?
It just breaks my heart that some media types are having to walk, wait in lines, and sweat, just like us peasants. But it's impossible to make everybody happy. To even try is a fool's errand. I'll leave that job to Billy Payne. All you can be responsible for is your own happiness, and so far the logistical logjams have not kept me from havin' a rippin' good time!
If you want to e-mail me with your horror story of how the Atlanta Games curved your spine and grew hair on your palms, don't expect me to read it for a couple of weeks. I'm too busy having fun, and wallowing in the experience of a lifetime to waste my time griping.
|
All
text & images at this web site are ©1996-2001 Reid Stott, and may not
be reproduced in any way without permission.
|
