Re posted from www.metroblenznewssquad.com

- by Rich Patterson (@pattersonbrands)

In a pre-Games post a few weeks ago I wrote about dealing with crowds. I couldn’t have imagined the reality of the first nine days of the games and record crowds hitting downtown for the fun, good weather and Olympic events. Will this be known as the Olympics of the 5-hour lineup, the overbearing security and the crushing sidewalk crowds?

Downtown Vancouver Crowds Feb 19/10

I get a kick out of how security guards and staff respond to these unprecedented crowds. While some stay good-natured, the majority harden under the pressure and choose to treat average citizens like terrorists.

I needed to pickup Olympic tickets at the Westin Grand on Friday and pulled into their circular driveway. Once into the driveway the “Lot Full” sandwich board was obvious so I began reversing out. Too late, two armed guards chased my Volvo Wagon down and were demanding to know where I was going. Well, I need to reverse out of your driveway you dopes. And, yes, that’s a real toddler in the carseat not a dummy packed with C-4 explosives.

A friend of mine was called in for emergency duty restocking Olympic swag at the Hudsons Bay Olympic Superstore. He told me (as we all know) it’s a total gong-show there with long lineups to get into the locked-down Olympic area. He said that parents with children who have to go to the bathroom are told to leave the Olympic area (since there are no washrooms in that part of the store) and lineup again to get back in. Real nice.

I had a similar experience at a major retailer on Robson on Saturday. My 3-year old daughter was crying she had to go to the bathroom so badly. The store refused. Luckily we were less than a block from the Sutton Place Hotel. The Sutton bellman graciously pointed us to the lobby level bathrooms without the subjecting us to terrorist profiling.

I realize Police, security and store staff are just trying to do their jobs. But I call for a big dose of reason. The daytime crowds are here, and 99.5% of us are just average families trying to have some fun. Don’t treat 100% of us like terrorists in our own town.

Rich Patterson, has a twenty years experience in Public Relations, Marketing & Sales. Rich owns a successful Licensing, Apparel & Promotional Product company and is part owner of a social media consultancy based in Vancouver. Contact Rich at rich[at]pattersonbrands.com or follow twitter @pattersonbrands