So I Waited…

LA Film Festival Recap – Day 3

Day 3 – Shift at the Volunteer Booth at the corner of Kinross and Broxton

It was another early day to start at the festival. So naturally I was in Westwood entirely too early like the day before. Only since, I have discovered the Corner Bakery I had some place to rest and have a nice breakfast. The only problem was I now had an extra half hour and since I was done with my food I decided to take a stroll around Westwood in this early hour.

The shops were starting to open and the way the sunlight hit the windows reminded me of some place I was in a dream I had in the distant path. It felt peaceful; it was like I was walking somewhere close to home. I was alone but not really alone. People were around me but I was alone in my thoughts.

One thought was, “I would like to live here one day.” It really was that lovely. As busy as Westwood is, in the morning it feels like a small town in the middle of nowhere. Everyone is pleasant and the shops are quaint. I realized that I had walked entirely too fast and I still had some time before my shift was to start. So another stroll around the block it was. Once I found it to be early enough to head over to the booth I found that no one was there yet. The booth was completely closed.

I sit on a near by bench and I read a festival guide that someone has left behind. Once I had read that through I just sat there waiting. I waited, and waited and waited. My shift was supposed to start at 9:30AM but no one was there. I got tired of sitting so I went to stand by the booth hoping that someone would arrive.

It was just after 10AM when Nancy and Tracy finally showed up. They apologized for being late. Soon after that I had to follow Nancy back to the office to help her bring back some things to the booth. On the way there she asked me how I was enjoying the festival so far. I told her I really enjoyed the theatre shift but when it came to the Kodak Speed Dating I didn’t like that as much. The look and her face was that of an “Uh Oh..” she said “Well, you may have to go there again today. They are short on volunteers.” I screamed in my mind. I begged and pleaded with her hoping that my vibrations would some how reach her and change her mind about sending me back to the dreaded Kodak Speed Dating.

Once we finished with the office stuff we had to walk back to the now dreaded Target Red Room. Once we were inside we were informed that I was no longer needed. I am not sorry to say that I let out a huge sigh of relief. Soon I was back at the volunteer booth getting the rundown of how things were done there. From then on I mostly just sat and looked at the festival guide and answered questions for people.

I only got to leave the booth twice. The first time was to go to the office to pick up some more badges for the booth. The second time I was to help out on transportation pick up. I soon met my companion for the ride, Anderson. We were driving to LAX to pick up a filmmaker. He is originally from England and he was quite amusing. I learned that he was an acting couch that specializes in children. The song “No Air” by Jordin Sparks came on the radio. Anderson commented, “This song was nice the first thousand times I have heard it.” and I responded, “Funny, I’ve never heard it before.” He looked very surprised. He then said “It has been playing non-stop since it hit the radio. I swear every other song they play it.”

Soon we reached LAX but we arrived at the wrong terminal. Once we found the correct terminal it felt like a wild goose hunt trying to find Virgin America’s arrival board. When I finally reached it I saw that the filmmakers flight had been delayed. With a quick phone call to Anderson he told me to then wait by the doors where the passengers would be walking out. It was 1:17PM and I really had to use the bathroom so I ran to use the bathroom all the while praying that I hadn’t missed the filmmaker.

I then stood by the doors for over a half hour before the filmmaker arrived. He was very friendly and he apologized for having me wait for so long. We then took him to his hotel and Anderson dropped me off at the ticket office and we said our goodbyes. And so that ends my third day at the festival!