Hospitality

I love being in the Hospitality Industry.  I really do.  I love meeting new people, I love helping people and I love that every day is different -- it's not a typical 9 to 5 job.

When you work at a hotel, you see all types of people -- you see families traveling on vacation, you see people who rarely travel and have no idea how to handle reservations, you see professional men and women who travel for a living and barely make a blip on the radar.  They pack lightly, they check in early evening and are usually gone by breakfast.  They don't ask for much and don't require much hand-holding.  I did, however, have a client at a previous property who insisted she be personally walked to her guest room no matter what time she checked in (4 AM or 4 PM).  She also had other issues which we commonly refer to as Power Tripping.  Power Trippers like to use phrases such as "do you know how much my company spends here a year??" or "do you know who I am??"   Female Power Trippers are the worst.  Female guests are horribly nasty to female front desk associates.

Then, there are the people that are not nice no matter the situation.  Even if that situation is a result of their own actions or inability to prepare properly.  Today I had a client walk into the Sales Office at 8 AM and ask if she there was somewhere she could charge her phone.  Of course!  So I directed her to the Business Center which has a row outlets.  Turns out she didn't have the actual charger.  I then directed her to the Front Desk to see if we had any iPhone 5 chargers in the lost and found box.  We did not.  She carried on like a crazy lady and "could not believe that this hotel does not have spare iPhone 5 chargers."  Seriously?  It's a hotel.  Not an Apple store (which, by the way, is across the street at the mall.  Within walking distance).  She then went on to say that it is now 8:15 AM and the shuttle service was supposed to take her to the local office at 8 AM.  Which shuttle service?  Our van here at the hotel or an outside company?  She said it was the same company that dropped her off last night.  Okkkaaaaayyyy???  I offered to contact the shuttle service for her and find out where they were.  She did not know what the name of the shuttle company was, she did not know where she was going for her morning meeting and when I offered to call her contact at her local office, she did not even have a name.  When I asked her for her name, turns out she was a doctor of some type.  Seriously lady?  Who dresses you in the morning?

Rivals

Watching the 3rd Quarter of the Iron bowl (right now Bama is down 27 to 36).  Happy to see Ole Miss defeat Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl earlier today and glad the Egg will be in Oxford for the year.  T, The Dew and his sister Cassi were all at the game.  Cassi was also there for the win over Alabama so I think she's the good luck charm. (OMG, as I'm typing Alabama just scored.  It's now Auburn 36, Bama 34).

T had a lovely week with Pony Boy's family for Thanksgiving.  On Saturday she competed in the Miss Amory pageant (and won!) and Sunday they headed to Johnny Frat Boy's house for the week.  I haven't had a chance to really talk to her but I think they met up with some of his high school friends, she met almost all of his family, had lunch with his mom, and went shining and shot off some guns.  T said she's dating Elmer Fudd.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving which also involved a little bit of snow from Wednesday.  My cousin Alison and her husband Zach came over as well as two friends from work.  I always have a hard time with timing the meal but this year everything turned out just right.

I had to go into the office for a bit on Friday and took KJ with me.  We also helped with the holiday decorations and I took her for sushi for lunch.  On our way home we stopped and did a little black Friday shopping.  We made it home in time for KJ to go to the high school football game.  Damascus is undefeated and is going to the Maryland state football championship this week (Thursday).  Not sure if KJ can make it to the game as volleyball practice starts Tuesday.

Super duper proud of her . . . she made the 15/16 travel volleyball team.  Over 70 girls tried out and since the team is also comprised of sophomores and juniors (depending on their birth date) and they only took 12 girls, we were really unsure how it was all going to play out.  She has also said repeatedly that she is going to play lacrosse.  Which just makes my heart happy.

OMG.  Alabama just scored again.  The score is now Bama 42, Auburn 36).

This morning KJ and I met our bestest friends for breakfast and had such a nice time.  I think we sat in Panera for over 3 hours.  AG was invited to cheer in the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day parade so we met them just outside of Harrisburg while they were on their way back to Cincinnati.  And we did a little shopping on our way home, too.

Cosmo got some stuff done today while we were gone.  I think he was happy to have some peace and quiet in the house for a change!  He got the outdoor Christmas decorations out of the garage and also re-covered our kitchen chairs and bar stools.  It was time to change the black and white check and I found a gray and white link pattern I love, love, love!  Tomorrow I'll finish putting Thanksgiving away and start on Christmas.

First time for everything

There really is a first time for everything and I found that out firsthand on Friday.  At almost 47 years old, and having worked fairly steadily since I was 15, I was released from my duties at the hotel.  It kind of came as a shock, kind of not.  While Catering Sales were through the roof and basically carrying the hotel, Group Sales were sorely lacking and rumors were rampant.  We had been told that an older section of the hotel, "the Lodge," was closing effective June 1 but "the Towers" would remain open.  There was a lot of speculation on how this would affect the associates and management.  As it turns out, I, along with two others, were casualties of war.  Everyone kind of assumed that one of the Sales Managers was on the chopping block, possibly two.  So, it was a great surprise to most that I was one of the ones let go.  But, in reality, it kind of made sense.  My position was created in January after not having a Catering Coordinator for several years and as the old saying goes, "last one hired, first one fired."  I enjoyed my job very much, I liked the people I worked with and I liked the work I did.  That's that.

On the bright side, everything does happen for a reason and I think the reason was that I'm supposed to be home this summer.  Even though she's about to be a high schooler, we were still very nervous about KJ being home all summer with the pool.  We wanted her to enjoy the pool but we wanted her to be safe, too.  And, I certainly didn't want a bunch of kids at the house if I wasn't home.  We have some friends visiting in June, we have plans for July and now I don't have to feel guilty about asking for time off.

It's still a very weird feeling to be called into HR and be told the company is restructuring and there is no longer a spot for you on the team.  I flip-flop between acceptance and anger.  On Friday morning I walked into the hotel and for the first time thought that it could be me.  For weeks I had received the assurances of my supervisor that I "was fine"  but something hit me that morning and I told a co-worker I think my position is going to be eliminated only because it was newly created.  Obviously I knew the gig was up when I walked into HR and saw my boss crying her eyes out.  Apparently, she had been hit with the news just moments before I was called into HR.  In between packing up my desk, I spent most of the time reassuring her that I was going to be fine.  I think I was a little shell-shocked.  But on Sunday afternoon, I got mad.  I'm mad because in essence, this really has nothing to do with me.  It has to do more with the inadequacy of others and the inability to put "heads in beds."  I feel like I was a pawn in a twisted game of politics.  The Catering department was given the OK to finally get the Coordinator they so desperately needed only to have it snatched away at the first sign of trouble.  My position was viewed as a luxury, not a necessity.  The only thing that makes me feel better is knowing that it wasn't anything I did.