Wherever you go around Athens you'll see gaggles of some of the 45,000 uniformed volunteers who are helping out at the Olympics.
They're described in the publicity materials as the "motivating force and soul of the Games."
At the risk of sounding like a heartless hack, I beg to differ.
While well-intentioned and endlessly friendly, many of the volunteers boast more enthusiasm than ability.
Ask them when the next bus to the media village is and you often to receive a blank look or a shrug of the shoulders.
Ask them where the press conference rooms are and they often don't know.
Ask for a cup of coffee or a beer and you're often still standing there 20 minutes later.
Try to take a photograph, film a venue or set up a satphone, though, and you're likely to have one of them on your back, making your life a misery.
I try not to lose it. They're giving up their time for nothing just because they want to be part of the Games and they've probably had inadequate briefings beforehand. But on occasions I find my patience severely tested.
posted by Stuart at 20:08
4 Comments:
By Zeus, the Greeks are great again
Instead of sneering at the supposed failings of the Olympic hosts, the British should address their own inadequacies
Helena Smith
Sunday August 15, 2004
The Observer
The only time I met Jeffrey Archer, he was ranting about the Greeks. 'These bloody people, they couldn't organise their way out of a paper bag.'
It was the eve of the 1997 World Athletics Championships in Athens. Archer was standing in the foyer of the Hilton, fuming because an overworked saleswoman in the hotel bookshop had had the temerity to keep him waiting. 'To think that they're organising these games is a real joke,' he grumbled. 'They're bloody hopeless.' His tirade was embarrassing. But what struck me more, living in Greece and being British, was the ferocity of such Anglo-Saxon condescension. It was both disquieting and buffoonish. In the event, the championships were the best of recent times.
As Greeks defy sceptics with world-class sports venues and a vastly improved city for the Olympics, I wonder what put-downs Archer and his ilk will come up with now?
continue reading >>http://sport.guardian.co.uk/olympics2004/story/0,,1283358,00.html
From the very beginning it was clear, that our English native speaker guests will have a hard time finding theri way around at these. And it looks whether they are complaing most. Right Stuart? Get your acts together and enjoy the party!
>Ask for a cup of coffee or a beer and you're often still standing there 20 minutes later.
Oh poor boy!
Do BBC hacks have to be tucked into bed as well, stuart?
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