Jamie Garrett is Your Go-To Tour Guide When It Comes to Radio Station Tours

Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and now Heritage Girls 3444 have made their way through the halls of the radio station.  Make no mistake, they're not there for me, the station or the tour.  It's all about that badge, baby.

Being a tour guide must be in my blood.  My mother did it successfully when we lived in Washington, DC.  She organized trips & tours for the Air Force Base where we lived.  I can still hear her picking up the phone in her office, "Linda Garrett... Tickets & Tours Director... How can I help you?".  Time after time, day after day, I heard that.

Over the years I've been the go-to guy for giving tours to groups needing their badges.  I'd like to think I get the call to do it because I provide a better tour overall than someone else might on our very limited staff.  After all, I've done one show or another in all four of the radio studios in the building.  I've been housed in four different offices over the years, even though I spend my entire day in one studio or another, never even using an office.  That's right, I prefer to think it's my experience that gets me tabbed to be the tour guide.

The other theory is that I'm the only one that answers the email requests.  I prefer to think it's my experience.  I've always been glad to do it.  After all, I'm here most of the time, any way, so why not provide the kids with a tour?  I figure if I'm giving the tour, I don't have to worry about a lackluster performance coming from someone else that might not have their heart in it.

I've got kids.  I've got kids that have done this type of thing.  I want to make sure the kids that get dragged here to earn a badge at least have a pleasant experience.  Plus, I want to make sure I provide the kind of information that might be helpful to a young, impressionable child that might one day consider a job in radio.  The message I try to deliver to all the children is:  STAY IN SCHOOL.  DON'T GET INTO RADIO

My thanks to Heritage Girls Troop 3444 for being a very attentive audience.  I'd been sick & down for the count just earlier that day.  I was worried I wouldn't be able to find the strength to make it through the end of the tour.  The reminder in my phone about the tour was actually the only reason I had come into work Monday.  I know, I know, poor, poor me.  That's why I don't bother rescheduling 30 people because I'm not feeling great.  The incredibly attentive & mature behavior made it a breeze.

The biggest difference between the Cub Scouts and the Girl Scouts/Heritage Girls is the willingness to reign it all in when necessary.  Sometimes when you lose the boys for a moment, they're gone.  Insanity ensues.  The ladies are very attentive and will settle down when asked.  With all respect to the wonderful young men they are, the boys sometimes make it feel more like transporting inmates through prison halls than giving a tour.  It always makes for great entertainment, but thanks again, ladies.