Picking up from last time –
So, we sent the woman to Solutions, despite her (true) protests of “but he had to electronically sign one when he signed up!”
(I’d still love to know what the deal is with all that. Maybe electronic signatures don’t hold up in court? But then how are these pages full of bib sign-out signatures that are supposedly waivers going to hold up, if it comes to that? Of course, I’m not a lawyer. So, what do I know? Nothing. So… moving on…)
Anyway, when she returned, she said, “They told me the electronic one is enough.” Now, she said it in a pretty frantic way – like the way someone would say it if she were lying, and grasping at straws, and doing absolutely anything to get her husband’s bib.
And I was preeeeetty sure they did not say that at solutions, as they’d already told us, “People must bring a signed waiver to pick up a packet. Absolutely no exceptions.” So, if the solutions table was going to give an exception to a no exceptions rule, I’d think they’d handle it quietly, or at least come over and tell us, “Hey, you know how we said no exceptions? Well, we’re gonna make an exception…”
Now, I never like the feeling of being lied to. However, I wasn’t mad at this woman because when you’re backed into a corner, and you’re desperate, and you’ve paid for the bib, and this is the only time you can get to the expo – I understand you’re fighting for survival in whatever way you can. She wasn’t lying to manipulate or be a jerk. She was just trying to protect herself and her husband.
And she was taking a risk that none of us would walk over to solutions to double check her story. But, I’m sure she could see we were understaffed, and most people were working more than one bib station at their table. And the expo was just starting to pick up with more people… So, her chances were pretty okay that a volunteer might either believe her or just show some compassion (maybe too much compassion, depending on how incredibly important these waivers are), and let her have the bib.
Now, I’m not going to say definitively in writing on a public forum whether someone did or didn’t give her her husband’s bib (though if I were you, I’d be willing to bet he got to run). But, I’m curious (if you’re reading along), how do you feel about the scenario? Would you have given it?