May 26: East Wing Gallery

While Fridays are going to be spent working in the office doing research for the scripts, Saturdays re spent as an attendant in one of the three galleries: East Wing, Preview Center, and Steele Model Pavilion.

For the first Saturday I was working the front desk for the East Wing. The East Wing is the center piece of the museum since it contains the most history that pertains to sailing, sea exploration, and Newport Beach. But the main attraction of the East Wing is the touch tank.

The touch tank has different creatures that inhabit tide pools that are found on the coast. Some of the most popular creatures in the tank are the sea urchins and sea slugs. Talk about extreme opposites: one that's hard and spiny while the other is soft and squishy (believe me, I speak from experience). But the main rule of the touch tank is only touch using two fingers and only use a stroking motion (if someone only uses one finger they are more likely to poke). Usually a museum attendant (me) has to stand by while people are interacting with the touch tank just to be safe.

One of the most interesting observations that I noticed throughout the day is that lots of people will walk in at once and then no one would come in. It was either filled with many people or no one at all.