"Imagine if your job was to sit at a fake desk all day and pretend to be annoyed by someone walking into your room."

Reminds me of some of the old tourist information places in Scotland before the internet was widely available. I was in Huntly, a small town and I was the only person in the office. I remember asking for information/a leaflet about George MacDonald's birthplace in Huntly, and when it was open etc, and getting told something like, "I wouldn't know about that, that's for people who are interested in that kind of thing."

I just replied by saying, "You might not be interested in it, but I am, that's why I'm asking."

She eventually dug out a badly made leaflet with a phone number from just under the desk, as if it was some great chore.

Her heart wasn't in that job. There wasn't much else to see in that town, other than a castle (which is pretty impressive TBF) and some whisky distilleries.

Be sure to ask for a tip for the "valuable service" you're providing.

(I accidentally ended up in what I can only describe as a beer automat some months ago. It was billed as some sort of friendly living room to the meeting organizers, and was loaded with propaganda pushing that premise.)

I already do this for free.

> Imagine if your job was to sit at a fake desk all day and pretend to be annoyed by someone walking into your room.

welcome to the public sector :)