We don't have facepainting and other issues

[bhskittykatt]

Ah, 4th of July aka Blow Shit Up Day. Let's see how much fun we had, shall we?

911 Prank Callers

On Friday, I was manning the phones when the 911 alarm went off. I traced it to the phone in the hallway by the first floor elevator. 911 called me and told me someone had yelled "Fire!" and hung up the phone. I told them that they called from a phone literally around the corner from the front desk and we weren't aware of any fire. I advised it was probably a prank caller and told them we were on it; they said call back if we needed to.

The fire department also called; they insisted on sending out a truck anyway even though I advised it was a prank caller.

After I got off the phone with the fire department, my 911 alarm went off again, this time from the third floor.

Phone rings: *caller ID shows PD department*
Me: *answering the phone* "They're on the third floor now."
PD: "Yeah, it sounded like a young kid. If you have trouble getting them, let us know and we can send an officer out to assist."

Unfortunately Security never caught them, though we didn't have any further calls. Security noted they probably skipped the second floor because the receiver was missing; for all we know the same kids could have straight-up stolen it.

No Parking

Most of the time our employee parking lot is just sorta....there. It's a big unmarked gravel lot behind the resort. However The Resort is located on some prime firework-viewing real estate, so for the 4th of July they blocked off the lot with signs saying "Resort Employees Only" and gave us all parking permits so we would actually have a place to park when we arrived at work.

I got to work right before my 3 PM shift (after fighting holiday traffic that added 20 minutes to my normally hour-long commute) to discover...the parking lot was full. No one was respecting the signs, and it didn't seem anyone was really enforcing it either. I found parking outside the lot on property I think actually belonged to the marina next door; fortunately no one bothered my car.

There's no face painting, gimme a free room!

Okay, so last year we threw a big shindig with facepainting and a bouncy castle and live music and food. This year, it was just the food and music. We didn't advertise anything else anywhere. Just all-you-can-eat foodstuffs and live music all evening long.

For three families, that was not enough. They wanted facepainting, dammit! And if we couldn't do it, they wanted a free room!

Now, we didn't have these activities, but fortunately there was a street festival downtown that was doing such activities. And we would be happy to shuttle the families for free so they could enjoy facepainting and bouncy castles and water balloons and whatever the hell else they had.

Nope. Families did not want to leave the resort. They refused our offer to transport them to the place of fun activities and demanded free rooms.

Fortunately, they did not get free rooms.

Look, I get it. I was disappointed over the lack of bouncy castle, too. But that doesn't mean I can go to my boss and demand free shit just for the inconvenience. At least, I can't do that after the lecture he gave me the first time I tried....look, no face painting does not justify a free room.

The GM essentially told them that if they left they wouldn't be penalized, but if they stayed they had to pay. They did not end up leaving.

What do you mean, sold out?

So our Food Stuff and Music Celebration sold out because it's 4th of July, we're prime firework-viewing real estate, so everyone and their dog wants to come out and space fills up fast.

Oh, what's that? It's 5pm on the 4th and you're calling trying to make reservations for your party of 10 and you can't and now we've ruined your 4th of July? You demand we bump someone because you were so planning on coming out here, but you waited until 5pm on the 4th of July to actually reserve for your family and friends?

Yeah, next time maybe plan more than a few hours in advance for your holiday celebration. Just a thought.

Speaking of last minute reservations...

The Food Stuff and Music was from 4-9.

At 9:40PM:
Guest: "Yeah, who do I talk to about getting reservations for the BBQ tonight?"
Me: "The BBQ ended at 9."
Guest: "No, for tonight."
Me: "Yes, it ended at 9."
Guest: "No, but, f**k" *hangs up*

Noise complaint on the 4th, but not what you think...

Background: in addition to Food Things and Music, we had a wedding and a large birthday celebration we were hosting that evening.

When I left work, I literally bought some flavored popcorn from our gift shop for what I knew would be a snarled commute home, and if I'd waited literally five more minutes I could have enjoyed a show to go with it.

To quote the message my supervisor sent me on FB that night:
"Some asshole threaded to punch my throat in cause the wedding music was too loud, then came downstairs screaming at CW and me threatening to beat the shit out of us and screaming other horrible things
Got even more pissed that I just kept smiling at him and refused to give him a comp on his room"

I missed that drama, damn. (Instead, I spent 45 minutes in a road-turned-parking lot....grrrr.... took me over an hour to reach the highway that normally takes 15 minutes!)

So, fellow stateside citizens, how was your 4th?

[MoonCat]

You have my sympathies *passes booze and bacon*

I don't get the facepainting thing. I honestly don't think I would have cared about that if they'd had it when I was a kid. Just doesn't seem like fun to me.

And the Johnny-come-latelies...WTF? Who assumes he can get a reservation for a DINNER (aka BBQ in this case) at 9:40 AT NIGHT? Duhhh?

My sisters and I went out for the afternoon to one of our favorite coffee shops, then to a popular co-op grocery store (ended up buying four more plants for the garden ), and then left one of our bags of goodies hanging on the back of a chair on the store's patio. Luckily I realized it before we got all the way home on the bus; I got off the bus, called the store and they found the bag & put it aside for me.

We stayed home all evening/night because I don't trust the morons next door. They're the type that think it's hilarious to throw firecrackers into someone else's yard or onto their porch.

[notalwaysright]

So, fellow stateside citizens, how was your 4th?

BG: I live in the middle of town, a town which is on its' second year of private fireworks being banned. Also, the houses are really close together and I live in large house which was made into small apartments. /BG

Mine was spent hoping fervently that my house wouldn't catch on fire because of my idiot neighbors who were ignoring the firework ban and lighting them next to the house. Oh, and every 45 seconds a group would need to go up/downstairs, always two or three people at once, drunk and loud, slamming the door EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. This crap is why I don't feel comfortable going anywhere for this particular holiday, because I wouldn't enjoy it wondering if my cat would die horribly in a fire.

Also, I can see some awesome (legal) fireworks from my house! So I watched them, and the next morning surveyed the remains of the party which was left until sometime today. Beer, food, garbage, etc all over the lawn. I don't want this place to become a party house.

[pitmonkey]

We had neighbors that tried to set the yard on fire. I had put the hose out and charged just for that.

[Racket_Man]

Did not witness this:

We did not go to the fireworks (about 5 blocks from our house) and I am GLAD we did NOT.

After the fireworks were done 2 people (one was an Ex-girlfriend of the stabber) were stabbed by a man (most likely high or drunk and jealous ) right on the street where we would have been walking home.

[figgyx]

the fourth at the hotel was quiet but that is because the 3rd was when the fireworks were set off. that night I had to deal with a party that would not quiet down in the parking lot. Had to call the cops after the third complaint. We had a couple upset because yellow water was coming out of the jets of their jacuzzi tub. We had people walk into an already occupied room because the other couple were checked into one room and handed keys to the wrong room. We had people sitting by the pool with glass beer bottles. There was a promised handicapped room to a guest checking in the next day who was in a wheelchair but the room was given to someone else by our owner. I had to call the people occupying the room and ask them to move the next day. Al in all it was a night from hell.

[Android Kaeli]

So, fellow stateside citizens, how was your 4th?

Surprisingly boring. Went to work, came home, had a couple of cousins I hadn't seen in years visit on their way back to their hotel for an hour, had something to eat, took a nap (being up at 4am + 3 hours of sleep = 2 1/2 hour nap), then listened to fireworks.

I typically don't go anywhere to watch fireworks anymore, the last time I did was a couple of years ago and it took a good hour to drive home what should normally take ten minutes. All I need to do is set up a chair in my front lawn and watch them, the neighbors take care of the pretty lights in the sky.

[Limescale]

Highlights for us were a big BBQ for everyone in my department, tons of booze at home, and getting to watch one cranky co-worker be shamed when the fireworks started going off. Claimed the children of employees who had brought their families were going to get scared by all the noise and someone should complain. She was then asked to explain the two adorable babies next to her who were quietly giggling and clapping every time the sky lit up with a colorful explosion, clearly enjoying things more than she was.

[HotelMinion]

Mine wasn't too bad. Had to work but I was ready with my facemask, SWAT gear, shield, brainbleach, and basketball shoes for those quick turns. Like the scouts and Scar say, "Be prepared". Helps.
Though I did have some asshat yell at me because he had been stuck in DC traffic for hours. He was much politer after he let it out though. What a turd.

[Teysa]

Here in Seward, they did the fire works at midnight. I could actually see them from the employee apartments which was pretty cool. We had a 20 hour day on the train but it went well. We even got cake and icecream at the end of the run.

One thing that was really neat is when we went through the military base, a fighter pilot flew his jet right over the train and landed on the other side.

[wolfie]

The Resort is located on some prime firework-viewing real estate, so for the 4th of July they blocked off the lot with signs saying "Resort Employees Only" and gave us all parking permits so we would actually have a place to park when we arrived at work.

I got to work right before my 3 PM shift (after fighting holiday traffic that added 20 minutes to my normally hour-long commute) to discover...the parking lot was full. No one was respecting the signs, and it didn't seem anyone was really enforcing it either.

What's the point of posting signs if they're not going to be enforced? My guess is the "occupiers" weren't even guests of the resort (since they'd park in guest parking). Sounds like a call to Argabarga's local counterpart was in order.

Oh, what's that? It's 5pm on the 4th and you're calling trying to make reservations for your party of 10 and you can't and now we've ruined your 4th of July? You demand we bump someone because you were so planning on coming out here, but you waited until 5pm on the 4th of July to actually reserve for your family and friends?

Whatever gave those people the idea that you'd bump someone who HAD made a reservation in order to free up space for people who hadn't planned in advance?

The Food Stuff and Music was from 4-9.

At 9:40PM:
Guest: "Yeah, who do I talk to about getting reservations for the BBQ tonight?"
Me: "The BBQ ended at 9."
Guest: "No, for tonight."
Me: "Yes, it ended at 9."
Guest: "No, but, f**k" *hangs up*

I would have given them a reservation for the BBQ, along with the warning "but you'd better hurry - it ends at 9 PM". They don't get there in time? Too bad, so sad.

To quote the message my supervisor sent me on FB that night:
"Some asshole threaded to punch my throat in cause the wedding music was too loud, then came downstairs screaming at CW and me threatening to beat the shit out of us and screaming other horrible things
Got even more pissed that I just kept smiling at him and refused to give him a comp on his room"

Threatening the staff? That warrants an eviction and charges. At least the "Greybar Hotel" would give them a free room.

[Aria]

I'm Canadian. However, the Fourth of July is my BIRTHDAY! So I ordered a freaking AWESOME cake literally months in advance and hosted a family barbecue. The cake was Caribbean flavored, very fruity and had adorable little flowers and a teeny tiny caterpiller taking a bite out of a flower on it. For the hamburgers, I made truffle burgers - truffle salt mixed with the meat - white truffle aoili and a port reduction to pour over top. Potato salad, which was made the previous day, and grilled vegetables as sides. Unfortunately, it started to rain so we didn't play too many yard games. However, the rain cleared up in time for us to fire up the barby.

Basically, it was a great time. The cake was from the local French bakery and DELICIOUS.

[snugglegirl05]

I and several of my co-workers had to work July 4th for the fireworks viewing held near the area of parking garages we all work at as porters.

Our employer has a contract with a property management company to manage that particular area of parking garages.

The property management company owns those parking garages, and because of this, they set the price of the parking fee.

We all worked as parking attendants on July 4th for an eight hour shift.

For the parking fee...

For one garage located where everyone would view the fireworks going off, the parking fee was $10.00

For the remaining parking garages, the parking fee was $20.00

Also, the property management company restricted the roof of two of the parking garages to only their guests who were invited to a firework viewing party.

Several security guards worked that day, and one of their duties was to inform the customers that they could not park on the roof.

A sign was posted at the garage letting everyone know that they could not park on the roof.

I and a couple of my co-workers dealt with some sucky situations.

I and one of my co-workers worked at one of the garages where a firework viewing party was to be held. The parking fee for that garage was $20.00

One customer who paid the parking fee drove up to the exit and told us that according to security, since she could not park on the roof, she could get a refund. We were not told that we had the authority to give refunds. My co-worker dealt with this customers. She was given a refund.

A father and son paid for their parking at the garage I was working at. Several minutes later the son and the father came down demanding a refund. They said that they specifically wanted to park on the roof, yet when they arrived, they never told us that. They also told me that security told them that they could not park on the roof. I told them 1) I could not do anything about what security told them and 2) it was not up to me to give them a refund. So both of them wanted to speak to whomever was in charge. I had to use my personal cell phone to call the manager on duty, but I could not get a cell phone signal. The father also wanted a phone number to call. I pointed to the phone numbers located on the gate equipment. The gate equipment has the phone number to the main office for the area of parking garages that my employer manages. As he was writing down that information he said "you know that you are stealing money from us." At that point I walked to the side of the garage and stood there. I let my co-worker deal with the situation. He was able to reach one of the managers on duty. They were given a refund.

For my other co-workers...

According to several upset customers who brought their dogs with them last year, they were able to take their dogs with them to where the fireworks were viewed at.

But not this year.

Those customers parked at the garage charging $10.00. Several minutes later after parking their cars, they returned and insisted on receiving refunds because the could not bring their dog with them.

The manager on duty was notified, and another manager on duty went over to that garage. Those customers were given refunds.

The good thing is this...

Over-time will be given for the upcoming pay period.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

According to several upset customers who brought their dogs with them last year, they were able to take their dogs with them to where the fireworks were viewed at.

WTF?????? Why would anyone want to bring a dog somewhere where there will be loud noise?????

My dogs cannot stand the loud firecrackers going off, or sirens . . . it hurts their ears for cryin' out loud. So if my two BIG dogs can be bothered by those kinds of noises, could you imagine how a smaller dog could react to that??? Hell, I can't stand loud popping noises, so I'm certainally not going to subject my babies (either the doggies or the kitties) to that.

Freakin' unbelievable.

[greek_jester]

WTF?????? Why would anyone want to bring a dog somewhere where there will be loud noise?????

To be honest, it depends on the dog. The house I grew up in was about 200 yards from the field where the annual Guy Fawkes Night fireworks were set off (yay! Free professional firework display!)


Our first dog (a Golden Retriever) loved the fireworks and would happily sit on our patio watching the fireworks with us. He would start whining and go all disappointed-droopy when they finished.


No, he wasn't deaf. He could hear a crisp packet rustle from the bottom of the 110 foot garden.