Alright, so let me tell you how I tackled those annoying visitor headaches at Ming’s Garden last week. Started off super frustrated because same dumb complaints kept popping up every weekend. My buddy Carlos, who manages the ticket booth, kept texting me stuff like “toilet paper chaos again” and “another family arguing about the map.” Just ridiculous.
First Thing Monday Morning
Grabbed my rusty clipboard and walked through the whole garden pretending I’d never been there before. Took notes like some clueless tourist:
- Direction signs were trash – little wooden arrows hidden behind bushes? No wonder people kept circling the koi pond like lost ducks.
- Ticket lines snaked halfway to the parking lot because we only had one booth handling cash and card payments.
- Restrooms looked like a war zone by noon – sticky floors, zero paper, and that nasty wet-cement smell.
Sign Madness Solution
Went full caveman mode on this. Ripped down all the old signs Tuesday morning. Made giant new ones with leftover plywood from my shed – painted blazing yellow arrows the size of my arm. Mounted them on bamboo poles right where people hesitated. Even drew crappy doodles: steaming bowl for the cafe, squiggly fish for the pond. Cost me three paintbrushes and a tetanus scare from rusty nails.
Tested it Wednesday with my niece’s school trip. Kids actually pointed and shouted “RAMEN THAT WAY!” Felt like a genius.
Ticket Line Shuffle
Stole an idea from taco trucks. Split the single line into two:
- Card-only lane – slapped a phone sticker on an old iPad running Square.
- Cash lane – dug out my grandma’s antique cash box for change.
Put Carlos in charge of yelling “CARDS LEFT, CASH RIGHT” through a dollar-store megaphone. Line shrinkage happened instantly. Felt so good I bought him horchata.
Toilet Paper Warfare
This was nasty. Noticed cleaners were restocking at random times while visitors glared at empty dispensers. Fixed it with a prison-style checklist:
- 10 AM – First TP sweep
- 1 PM – Refill + mop attack
- 4 PM – Emergency stash check
Bought those jumbo warehouse rolls so they’d last longer. Added bonus: started hanging air fresheners shaped like pineapples. Now it smells like a questionable cocktail instead of doom.
Sunday Victory Lap
Watched from behind a bonsai tree all afternoon. Zero “where’s the bathroom?” screams. Couple actually complimented the taco-truck payment system. Saw a kid high-five one of my ugly signs. Best part? Carlos didn’t text me once about TP disasters.
Honestly should’ve done this months ago. Gardens shouldn’t make people rage-cry over directions and bathroom breaks. Just gotta handle basics with duct tape and common sense sometimes.
