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>
> What seems to work well is a skillfully cultivated
> "low-status" persona. In
> terms of transactional analysis, it needs to be child-child. Not
> parent-child, or adult-child. Most of us here are in this
> business, myself
> include, because we are compulsive explainers. Therefore we
> actually find
> it almost impossible to achieve such humility or to ask truly open
> questions, with voices that do not imply that we already know
> the correct
> answer.
>

While I don't disagree, it wouldn't matter whether you were a compulsive
explainer or not. As soon as you are wearing the corporate sweatshirt,
nametag, etc, the visitor will automatically cast you as "a person who
knows" - regardless of your level of humility. (Having said that, there is
nothing more annoying than an 'explainer' who rushes in uninvited to
'finish' an exhibit for you when you were perfectly happy bumbling along by
yourself!)

Besides making floorstaff incognito (and risk "person who knows" being
substituted by "weirdo asking me questions for no apparent reason - what's
their agenda, should I call the police?") , I can't see how staff can ever
fill that 'grandmother' role. We just have to hope that kids continue to
bring their own along.

Best,

Regan

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