Complicated Preparations

 

Anyone organising anything as complicated as a holiday where everything has to start perfect, whatever disillusions may surface later, must be a perfectionist.  Questions and enquiries receive meticulous attention in an effort to persuade everyone that their smallest whim is of paramount importance, as indeed it has to be in case carelessness can result in major consequences.

 

Mrs. A. sends in her application and wants to share with Mrs. B.  But Mrs. B’s form has yet to be received so a space has to be left to house the two friends close together.  When Mrs. B’s form arrives, it appears she wants to share with Mrs. C so the distraught organiser, after shifting the trio on paper and getting the accommodation exactly right, some weeks later receives a message that Mrs. N. having heard all about the holiday plans of her friend Mrs. A. applies and put her preference, to be with Mrs. A.  The poor organiser noting that Mrs. A. on the chalet plan is now completely surrounded by all her buddies attempts to move everyone a chalet or two down the line to leave a little space in which to slot in Mrs. N.

 

Even this is simple; after several weeks the complications increase.  A message is received that Mrs. F. right in the middle of a long chain of buddies is a very poor walker so could she please be near the dining room.  A frantic scrutiny of the accommodation reveals that another completely fresh row of chalets is available which is immediately opposite the dining room but several wheelchair people are already pencilled into occupy these.  Tactical transfers of names are organised and the long line of friends and companions are juggled into place.

 

But even this is only half the unravelling of the tangle.  Then comes the allocation of seats in the dining room.  All the buddies have to share the same table.  At the same time, care must be taken to be sure that the wheelchairs do not prove an obstacle to the food trolleys, being propelled at breakneck speed by the waitresses and waiters.  Too many disabled people cannot be put together at one table in case they are unable to help one another.  People with paralysed hands and arms need help to cut up their meals.  An able bodied person at that table may find that he or she is spending a long period helping disabled friends while her own meal languishes getting colder and less appetising in front of her.

 

Sometimes, one makes the mistake of leaving out a bosom friend from the table because the number is in excess of the seats.  Someone else would have been missed less.  Even a close buddy at the next table where jokes, incidents and anecdotes can readily be called across does not meet with complete approval.  One has to be a mind reader, mentor, psychologist all rolled into one to be able to satisfy everyone.

 

If the transport is by coach, there is yet another boulder on which to stumble.  But fortunately these mistakes of allocation come to light and can be rectified well before the day of departure.  No one going on an arranged group holiday ever fails to compare the arrangements with those sent to all the rest of the contingent of which he or she is a member.  So errors of allocation of coach seats can be rectified prior to the start.  The chief error here is of omission.  Having changed Mrs. R. and put her into the same coach as Mrs. T. one has to remember to rectify the numbers which are to travel in each coach.  It is of little use having forgotten to tell Mrs. D. that she will now be travelling in the blue coach and then forgotten to cross off her name; and finding that all one’s work is null and void because the numbers have not been rectified and the poor coach escort find that all her seats are occupied and there are three very aggressive potential passengers standing in the corridor of her coach demanding seats and waving their tickets under her nose to justify their demands. 

 

But the effort to get all these complicated allocations right before departure is well worth the effort if only to avoid many more massive problems after arrival.  The hours and hours of work on the dining room table with several diagrams, plans, and lists which have to be twisted and turned with a pencil and eraser long after one’s bedtime and which turn one’s brain to spaghetti are all worth it in the end.  To be able to turn up at the holiday venue, wait for the grumbles and criticisms to materialise and they don’t.  To be able to stroll down the lines of doors and be met with cheery waves from delighted faces and grins of excitement is a reward for the many hours of work and struggle.

 

It is infinitely worth while to get apparent perfection before leaving home by numerous changes of mind, a multitude of twists, substitutions and deletions than to embark on moves, repacking of cases and disgruntled comments, after the arrival of the party.

 

Ideally, a good organiser should be able to see the party off at the departure point, wave goodbye and go home with an easy mind and a week of untroubled leisure without a qualm.