That was some role play

If I had to come up with a Top Ten list of things I despised in the workplace, one item making the cut would definitely have been any roleplay situation that was part of a training program. Talk about fear and loathing.

I didn't care whether I was playing the prospect or the salesperson, the client or the project manager, the whoever and the anti-whoever. 

Roleplay/schmoleplay. If I'd wanted to be an actor, I'd have signed up somewhere along the way to do community with some footlight players club. But I never wanted to belt one out as Mame, or long for the "gentleman caller" in Glass

Menagerie. And I never wanted to do any acting out in a roleplay corporate setting, either. 

Giving my feelings about roleplaying, I was colossally amused when I read about a recent Defense Department training session where a the roleplay ran amok. The training session was a joint event  - "essential military training" - between the US Army Special Operations Command and Boston-local FBI agents. 

Problem was, when the trainees got into their role playing commando, they went to the wrong room. Instead of detaining a roleplaying bad guy, they rousted a hotel guest, an employee of Delta Airlines.

Imagine being in your hotel room at 10 p.m. and having the door battered in by a bunch of FBI agents?

Yikes!

When I was traveling on business, here's what 10 p.m. in the hotel looked like:

I'd have finished going over whatever I needed to go over for the next day's work, and I would have been sitting in bed, eating a bag of M&M Peanut and reading People, probably with the TV on. 

When the FBI - or was it the US Army? - barged in, no doubt armed to the teeth, I'd have either been screaming my head off, screaming some version of WTF, OR having a heart attack. 

I'm betting that the Delta employee was going with the first option - WTF - because if they'd been having a heart attack, that would have made the news. 

Lieutenant Colonel Mike Burns at U.S. Army Special Operations Command said in a text message on Wednesday evening that “this serious incident” is under review.

“First and foremost, we’d like to extend our deepest apologies to the individual who was affected by the training exercise,” Burns’ statement said.

“The training was meant to enhance soldiers’ skills to operate in realistic and unfamiliar environments,” Burns said. “The training team, unfortunately, entered the wrong room and detained an individual unaffiliated with the exercise.” (Source: Boston Globe)

Boston PD was called in - but they didn't arrive at the hotel until 12:20 a.m., when they were able to confirm that the whole meghilla "was indeed a training exercise."

I'd have liked to have been a fly on the wall between the break in at 10 p.m. and 12:20 a.m. when the BPD strolled in. 

Was the Delta employee trying to convince the marauders that they weren't part of a roleplay? Because, after all, part of the roleplay could have been an "actor" protesting that they didn't know WTF the FBI/US Army was doing in their hotel room.

“The safety of civilians in vicinity of our training is always our number one concern,” Burns added. “We are reviewing this serious incident with our partners and no further details will be released at this time.”

No further details? That's no fun! I'd at least like to know whether the guy got his room comped.

Anyway, that was some roleplay. No wonder I never liked them.