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The know-it-all behind the counter By Peggy Dover Dec 11, 2022 12:15 AM A A About four months have passed since reporting for duty behind the counter at the Jacksonville Visitor Information Center. I’ve counted numerous heads, fielded some interesting phone calls and, most recently, I’ve become part of the Victorian Christmas celebration. As hoped, the opportunity to meet the public has supplied me with a fair amount of column fodder. I would be remiss if I didn’t share the experience with my reader family. There is nothing quite as exhilarating as learning on the job when you’re the sole employee. Each new day is a grab bag. Grab bags are like adventures. Oh, yes, I was ably trained in the few things that come up on a regular basis. My co-workers, Ellen, Sherry and Gretchen have been kind and gracious with me, as has Amanda, my supervisor and director of the Chamber of Commerce. My co-workers and I work singularly on different days, so we leave notes for one another with pertinent information, and I try to remain pertinent. One thing I have learned is each day brings enlightenment, if you will. Each time the screen door squeaks, there enters a new face with a new question or request. People have all kinds of reasons for entering our domain, and we cannot possibly know everything. Nevertheless, people do expect, and we are the targets of their diverse expectations. Take the history professor: I’m pretty sure he was an Ivy Leaguer, as he approached me with a purposeful frown and began shelling me with history questions as he strode about the small space. This was about my second week. After the third or fourth “I don’t know, but I can find out,” he left having fulfilled his mission of reducing me to a counter prop. Pretty sure he wore loafers. I have learned that referring people to various websites is my go-to. With business hours/days of operation, people’s whims, weather conditions and British prime ministers constantly in flux, accuracy can be elusive. We offer a fine array of magazines — all of Oregon is covered by region — and a wall of brochures represents multiple interests. That doesn’t mean I have all the dope on each one stored on a cranial hard drive. One day a man held up a copy of “1859,” a magazine named for the year Oregon became a state. He asked me when it was first published. I loved that he asked. Of course, you know I was tempted to tell him the first issue was hand-printed in 1840 by forward-thinking Rogue Indians using huckleberry juice and flint-tipped markers. They were bound with beaver sinew. I’m forced to curtail an inclination to make up things when working there. Not here, though. One day I received a phone call from a semi-frantic woman who wanted to report a strange-acting “juvenile skunk” along a trail in the Jacksonville Woodlands. I’m unsure what she wanted me to do. I hadn’t brought my shotgun and wondered if she meant the animal or an obnoxious human that fit the description. I gave her the number for the Woodlands Association. This is called the passing-the-buck ploy. When one’s job description includes the word “information,” this opens up a magical world of possibilities in people’s minds. It would be helpful if I could speak several languages, including but not limited to Mandarin, French, Algonquin and Pennsylvania Dutch. I adore the job and especially the people. They’re what keep life fun and interesting. This much I do know: After today, there’s only one more weekend to enjoy trolley rides, a visit with Father Christmas and tours of the Beekman House. Then the docents change back into modern people, and the clanger goes silent for four hushed months. But the stores and restaurants will be open for business, and starting in January we four VIC gals will be doing our best in the depot Wednesday through Saturday, 10-2, answering questions and making visitors feel welcome in Southern Oregon — the best place to be any time of year. Peggy Dover is a freelance writer/author/trivia sponge. Reach her at [email protected] .