Tourists!

[mrs_overall]

I was looking after my friend's shop today and encountered lots of tourists. Some gems include:
1. I hate this town, you don't have a KFC or McDonalds
2. Can you direct me to the house where Dracula lived?
3. How many steps are there really at the 199 steps?
4. Do you sell memory cards for cameras? (in a lingerie shop?)
5. Do you sell lighters? (it is a lingerie shop!)
6. Do you have a bucket I could buy as my daughter gets car sick (It is a bloody lingerie shop!)

[mrs_overall]

My favourite tourist encounter was with some Germans who were quizzing me about the Abbey, which dates from 657AD. Their final question was
"Vy haff you let it fall into disrepair?"
I pointed out it hadn't been too bad until they shelled it in 1917

[emmie]

i always thought i must have tourist guide stamped on my forehead at one point, with so many people wanting to know the way to xxx, or what bus, train, goes to xxx.

[FredPuli43]

Bit embarrassing when you don't know the answer. Residents often don't. For example, I've lived near Cambridge all my life. If anyone asks where any one of some of the colleges is, I often don't know. And as for streets; local people may recognise the name as one they've heard but have no idea exactly where it is. They know where shops and pubs are but don't recognise the street named as being the same street as the shop or pub is in. Well, they've never needed the street name to find these landmarks, since they know how to get to them without ever knowing that.

Mind, tourist offices abroad are commonly worse than any local; I once asked, in Israel, where a museum was and, typically, the young assistant didn't know. It was 100 metres away from where she was sitting.

[Eve]

I worked in Burger King where we got a fair few summer tourists. The amount of times we got asked for a Mc this and a Mc that!!!

The comedy trying to speak Welsh to be funny wore a bit thin too.

Used to get all kinds of strange questions when I worked in Somerfield too. Saga tours had their pick up outside and we wore similarish colour jackets to them so got all kinds of wierd questions!

One of my usual favourites though from the general public was (while in a stripey dress and jacket with a name badge on) - do you work here? Nah love, I just like the uniform!

[joggerjayne]

Are there really 199 steps ???

[DaisyNonna]

How petty coat them with feathers.

[chaptazbru]

My friend's husband runs a model railway shop called Railway Junction and he's lost count of the number of times peope have rung him up asking for train times. Some are obviously wind up, but many are for real and they get upset when he can't help them !

[mike11111]

"Are there really 199 steps ???"

Yes, as a twelve year old boy in 1961 we went on a church trip to Whitby and the vicar made me climb them all and count them. Couldn't do it now.

[joggerjayne]

Bummer if you'd lost count somewhere around 150 !

[TheOtherHalf]

I must admit, Ive never counted them. I have to concentrate on just getting to the top, although with my knees, coming down is worse.

Do you get asked if its a real whalebone that makes the arch ? and if so what happened to the rest of the whale. Did they serve it up at one of the many fish and chip shops ?

[emmie]

our local hairdressers must be fed up to the back teeth with tourists, they waltz through the door ask where is such and such, not sure why people assume they know where everything is.