The Waiting Game

This is a follow-on from my If it’s Summer 2024 this must be Paris 2024  post in which I took you to the end of my first shift as an Olympic Family Assistant (OFA) and where I hoped for better days ahead that involved less waiting. As I gradually learnt, however, the nature of the OFA role is precisely one of waiting: waiting for “your person” to show up as scheduled at the start of your shift, waiting for them to exit the VIP area of a competition venue at the termination of an event while nervously keeping an eye on the growing queue for dedicated VIP vehicles, waiting discretely while they shop in case you need to step in and translate, waiting for transportation arrangements to be confirmed, waiting in Paris traffic and hoping the event you’re accompanying “your person” to won’t be over by the time you arrive. And all the while you’re hoping that they really do appreciate the service you are providing.

My person, Mr. S, was already at  lunch in a nearby restaurant when I reached the hotel lobby on Day #2.  He telephoned  me to join him and his family. Over lunch we discussed his plans and the family’s plans for the next few days so that after our meal I actually felt useful when I successfully finalized some unexpectedly complicated transportation and lined up the family’s attendance at upcoming sports events via the very not-user-friendly SEAT (Stakeholder Experience and Access Tool) app. It gradually became clear that Mr. S, as a long-serving member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), was quite used to doing his own waiting around for confirmation of travel arrangements and event seating.  In other words I never felt as if he was snapping his fingers impatiently or expecting things to be done yesterday.  

As our days together unfolded, we fell into the habit of having a bite to eat either at the hotel or somewhere else in the area. I should point out that OFA’s like all other Games volunteers have a meal included with each shift. You can take your meal at any time that is convenient to the person you are accompanying at one of the sports venues where there is always a catering facility for the  workforce members. Dining out, on the other hand, every day is not the norm for an OFA.  I was exceptionally well treated! And I liked that Mr. S,  his family and I could relax together and let the conversation veer away from Olympics talk and into everyday subjects: family life, work experiences, studies, home life, food preferences, movie recommendations etc. I think it helped me better understand their requirements and reassured me of my value to them. Towards the end of my volunteer stint Mr. S was still talking about the delicious scrambled eggs we’d shared a week earlier. 

Somedays after lunch we’d head out to a sports event and, having left Mr. S and his entourage at the VIP seating area, I would go off to the volunteer space to book more events, arrange transportation and, most importantly, recharge my phone! I learned very quickly that a power bank is a valuable tool to lug around despite the extra weight if an electrical outlet isn’t available when you need it.  On the days we attended competition venues, my step count would soar as volunteer lounges always seemed to be situated as far as possible from the VIP seating!  The final minutes of a match or competition would find me speedwalking  back towards our pre-arranged meet up point.  I saw a post on a Paris2024 Volunteers Facebook group that asked people to share their tried-and-true survival tips. I would say that it would be difficult to work as an OFA without a reasonable level of physical fitness because of the distances you are required to travel on foot.  

Other days might find us attending receptions or meetings. My role was not to participate in any way but I was always introduced as Mr. S’s volunteer OFA and often this became an opportunity for other IOC members to comment on the important role of all Olympic volunteers and express their gratitude for our service. At these events, I would wait nearby in case I was needed (to book another sports event or a restaurant) and sometimes I got to speak to other attendees or to fellow OFAs who had accompanied “their person” to the same event.   Often there'd be a good view too

One morning, I wrote the following lines to a friend: 

“Some days here, in my volunteer role, extra-ordinary happenings (for me) occur. In the last couple of days I’ve had tea with a prince, was having a discussion on the subject of the goodness of humanity with a young man who turned out to be a king and later on that day I was introduced to a duchess. And then there are all the regular people who add special touches to each day like all my co-volunteers, the pin-traders, the security guards, the drivers, the police officers…the laughs, the smiles, the stories.”  

A few hours later at work, Mr. S stops to speak to a young woman who is, I can tell, a fellow IOC member. Not a princess, a countess or any kind of noblewoman as it turns out but Samira Ashgari, the Afghan member of the IOC. A former refugee from the Taliban, she eventually returned to Afghanistan where she captained the women's national basketball team. Now, of course Ashgari once again resides outside her native country. We chat a bit about the uniting influence of sport and I mention that I have taught Afghan refugees in Greece. After a hug she thanks me not only for my Olympics service but also for my teaching. Life has this way of coming full circle. It's worth the wait.