Soooo tired.

So I painted at my local Ymca for 5 hours today for free (kinda, it helps me get hours for my pass). All in all it was a pretty great day, except.....

I had people in my line (there were 2 painters) who kept making rude comments all day about the wait time.


Oh, and what do you do if you really gotta go pee, and the line is crazy all day?

About the comments about the waiting time: I always ask people if it was better that I then cut down on the time for each child, so they just got the same three stripes for tigers, as they do when painted in the kindergarten. Normally it works.

Well, if you really have to go, then say you will be back in five minutes (or how long it takes for you), and maybe that it is because you need a restroom really badly, so they know it is not a cigarette break.

But I think it is so hard to take time on a whole day like that, to take a break. Recently I made a sign with the writing "break (pause) after me" and space in the top to write how long. The other site saying "I'm the last today". That site I have tried, and good result =)

eva wrote:
I had people in my line (there were 2 painters) who kept making rude comments all day about the wait time.

There is a sign that Cindy Trusty from Minn shared with another list that she uses at big events, you reminded me of it....
The sign simply says that if you are in a big hurry you can come to the front of the line for a quick special painting. She offers Orange, lemon, lime, Cherry, Blueberry, Snowball etc. the sign shows each dot (put it on with 1/2 inch round sponge dobber).

I have a bit of a warped sense of humor, and I love this sign as it is great to get the point out that you are doing more then just putting simple dots on people, so they should be prepared to wait for the good stuff.

Jenny

I try to be careful not to drink too much before a long gig, and only water since sugared beverages go through me much faster. If I can't wait, then I apologize, make a dash for the restroom, and get back as quick as I can. If they know you've been there all day, they usually understand.

Sometimes we are responsible for our own abuse. I am so guilty of this too. We see a long line and are starving and need to pee, but still we go on.

I try and always bring food and drink with me in preperation of this, but the carnival food is so tempting.

A good suggestion would be to make a BIG sign that you can reuse over and over again. Maybe the sanwich style, not the little 8 1/2 X 11 that stands on your table that no one can read-guilty! LOL.

It will say how long the face painting is, when the last face will be started, and the times of scheduled breaks. And you have to take them. Cause you may not have to pee then, but in 15 minutes you will. Also, Shannon suggested saying something like, "It takes about 10 minutes per face and face paint will stop at XYZ time. Sometimes it is quicker, sometimes it is slower. Please base your decision to stand in line based on the number of people in front of you." Insert your numbers and let them decide. You can use velcro and change the numbers based on your gig.

You can also make a small laminated page for each gig with a few design choices on it and the above information and ask the person in line to pass it back once they have chosen. You can get self laminating pages at Staples for about $1 per page-money well spent.