“Alright, that all sounds good. Thank you very much, sir,” I said to the middle age balding man sitting across the wooden desk from me. His office was a comfortable size, but the white walls and lack of furnishings made it a place that no one would not want to spend excessive amounts of time. I got up from the hard chair I was sitting in and exited the room out into a long hallway that I had first walked through some twenty minutes ago.

And, let me tell you, I was so glad to be able to come to Mr. Turner’s office today. This meant that I now had a job. Granted, it was only for a little under three weeks, but I was desperate for anything at this point. And, plus, they paid very well. I felt like I had a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, knowing that I would have some cash to get me through the next few months.

When I saw the ad in the Washington Post about two weeks ago, I knew that I would have to go seek out this Mr. Turner for an interview. The ad was placed by the International Olympic Committee. They were looking for local D.C. residents to help out during the Games. I would have never imagined it myself. Our nation’s capital hosting the Olympic Summer Games. When a friend of mine first told me the news, the first thing I thought was, “Where are they going to build the stadium?” I had no idea how they did it, how they fit it into our small, populous city. Or where all the millions of dollars were coming from that were needed to host such an event.

But, that is beside the point. With the Opening Ceremony just one short week away, thousands upon thousands of people were making there way here to our history filled city. I wasn’t sure exactly what my job was going to be until I met with Mr. Turner. But, it seemed to be simple enough. I was simply support staff, a handler of sorts. I had to make sure athletes knew where they were going, got there on time, and make sure no one got lost along the way. With several buildings and stadiums being used for all the events, it can be easy to get lost in an unfamiliar city (or country for that matter).