In the middle of peak tour-guide season, working nearly every day, dealing with busloads of tourists, trying to follow the campaign, attempting to keep up with laundry and other housework, I have not had much time to write blog posts. Neither have I been able to find topics and research them. I guess this is what we mean by living in the moment.

I do, however, have reflections on my experience.

Adults Who Can’t Follow Directions

When I take a busload of cruise ship passengers to either the John F. Kennedy Library or Harvard Square, I turn them loose to see things on their own. (This is not my idea; just the way the tour is structured. I would never voluntarily turn tourists loose in the city where they can wander off and get lost. But I have to follow the tour description.)

I give the passengers explicit directions and also tell them what time they have to either meet me in Cambridge or in the library’s lobby. On a good day, the group listens to me and follows directions. I count them on the bus, give the driver a thumbs-up, and we proceed with our itinerary.

On a bad day, someone (or two or three) disappears.

Find the Missing Tourist

The JFK Library

Recognizing a tourist at the JFK Library is a challenge because they can be in any number of places. Before we leave, I attempt to locate missing folks, checking the gift shop, the cafeteria, the Ladies’, and even down by the water. This takes time. The rest of the tour gets delayed. People on the busy grow antsy. It’s a lose-lose situation.

Finding a tourist, whom I met only an hour ago, in the melée of Harvard Square is darn near impossible.

Getting Tougher

While I search for them, the responsible people on the bus become annoyed at the delay. They take it out on me in reduced tips, or no tips at all, even though I did my best to solve the problem. Plus, if someone wanders off and gets left behind, they storm back onto the ship and complain, even though they were at fault.

I need to get tougher. “Please be at the meeting point by 1:45, in time to board the bus. The bus rolls at 2:00. If you are not there, you will have to find your own way back to the ship. Just tell your ride-share or taxi driver to go to the Flynn Cruiseport.”

Special Attention Required

Sometimes my tour group includes passengers with physical disabilities. These range from canes and walking sticks to wheelchairs and motorized scooters. Occasionally the group includes someone who simply can’t either pay attention or remember what I just told them five seconds ago. For these people, I must repeat directions three, four, or five times. I make note of these passengers, often asking their names so I can check to make sure they got back on the bus. (I am not a naturally patient person, so this gives me an exercise in perseverance.)

Harvard Yard

The physically disabled require attention regarding stairs with no ramps, cuts in the curb, and obstacles on the sidewalk. This means I direct everyone else to gather in a certain place while I ensure the disabled person can get around an obstacle, which takes time away from the narration.

That’s okay because I want to give everyone the best tour I can and make them happy that they signed up for this excursion. I also want them to see as much of Boston as possible. It has not escaped my attention, however, that the folks who require special attention, and thus more of my time, often do not tip at the end of the tour. I don’t know why this is.

Full Moon and All Aboard

These past two weeks have been particularly challenging, possibly because of the full Hunter Moon. One person disappeared in Harvard Square during Head of the Charles weekend. Three people either wandered off or got on the wrong bus at the Kennedy Library. One person with very limited mobility, who used a motor scooter, chose an excursion that requires getting off and back on the bus twice. The challenges mounted.

Insignia leaving the Port of Boston

Usually, we tour guides have to get the bus back to the pier by a specific time. We know the All Aboard time and when the ship sails—usually a half hour after that. On the Head of the Charles weekend, the return-to-pier time and the All Aboard time were the same: 5:30 pm. Sailing was at 6:00. Despite multiple delays that included heavy traffic, a lack of parking space for the bus in Cambridge, and a rookie driver with limited English who mixed up my directions, I got the bus back at 5:35.

Everyone left the bus and boarded the ship. The crew pulled that gangplank, cast off, and headed out immediately. The ship had reached Castle Island before I got to my car. Talk about tight timing.

Tourist Season Ending Soon

There are two weeks left in the cruise ship tour season. When it’s over, I will miss the sense of purpose that comes with getting to the pier on time, the hustle and bustle of buses and tourists at the pier, and the daily challenge of making everyone on the tour happy. I will also miss meeting a lot of wonderful people who are on vacation and hearing their reactions to visiting Boston. Plus, meeting and chatting with my fellow tour guides. That means my world will get a little smaller, as it tends to do in the winter.

More on that later. Right now I focus on making today’s tour the best it can possibly be.