Museum Dialogues of 6/19/26
11:40am
A teenage boy who nearly bumped into me while inspecting a statue turns to me, "Oh, sorry- Hey, can you answer questions about the artworks?"
"Yes, to the best of my ability."
"Are these screws new, or original-" He's motioning to the large statue he was looking at. Screws keep a slab of egyptian hieroglyphics firmly locked together with the statue.
"New, I believe. Added, because otherwise this would be unstable and easily come apart, I think."
"Ahh, okay! So... You like working at the museum?"
"Yes." I say matter of factly, without hesitation at all.
"Cool, I'd imagine it's great."
I begin walking away, but turn to make an addendum. "Though... You do have to accept working within a panopticon."
"Oh, yeah. I guess that makes sense..."
11:45am
I watch two guests ""playing"", running around a large urn that isn't covered by a case. The barely 20 yr old boy of the group makes a motion like throwing a basketball over the urn. He gets within inches of bumping against it.
"Excuse me, could you please be careful not to touch the artwork?"
He looks at me like I'm a pest, and walks up to me.
"Okay. I had no intentions of touching anything, by the way."
I stared blankly at him, knowing that it doesn't really matter what his intentions are. I just hum, expressing my doubt.
I watch as his buddy - a young woman - nearly backs into the same urn as they look at a different statue.
Cheersong, I say, "Excuse me. If you'd be so kind as to take a step away from-" She begins moving away from the work.
"-Yes, there we go, thank you."
It isn't until after the fact when I recall a good retort to someone "not intending" to touch the art.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
3:50pm
I'm intently watching the gallery I've relieved someone from. It's full of people, and they're packed closely to the ancient statues that have no real protection. I'm especially concerned about the groups of teenagers, and a small family with a very excitable toddler.
A teenage boy comes up to me with a starstruck look in his eye. "Hey, is it okay if I ask - and this might be stupid... But do you guys really have a mummy in there? In the Sarcophagus?"
I politely smile, "Yes, that's a real mummy, right in the corner over there. That's the only one we have."
"Wow... That's so cool. You must really love your job here, huh?"
I'm staring now at a group of three other teenagers getting closer to other statues. "Ehm. Yes, I do love this job-" I decide to reiterate the same point I told a different student. "You just have to be okay with it being a panopticon."
There's a beat of silence, and I glance back at the boy. He's likely just about 17 or 18. He looks sheepish, "Uhm... Sorry, what does...?"
I realize he's never heard of the concept of a panopticon until now. I guess it's not usually covered unless you're taking a psychology class, or maybe even something focused on forensics.
"Oh, that is - You have to be okay being constantly watched."
He nods as though he gets it. "Ohh, yeah. It is a lot of observing, isn't it?" Evidently he thinks I only mean watching guests like him. He doesn't quite grasp that I'm under as much - if not more - scrutiny than he is.
I nod absentmindedly, as I watch more people flooding into the room. There isn't really much more to say in my opinion. He stands beside me for a beat, as if hoping I might continue speaking with him.
Part of me feels bad, but another has hackles up. I don't exactly need a boy looking at me like I hung the stars up in the sky. I'm not a fan of the lovesick puppy vibe, and I'm certainly not a fitting demographic for him.
I'd prefer he go have schoolboy crushes somewhere else.
He then whispers, realizing he's lingering and doing a social faux pas, by silently watching me, without having anything else to say. "Oh, I guess you're busy. I'll leave you be."
I hum, and notice the family with the toddler has indeed touched a marble portion of a wall, full of hieroglyphics. I don't hesitate to move, ask them to not touch art again, and begin my documenting and reporting process.