Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

A long update after a long break...

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • A long update after a long break...

    Well hey now! It's been quite some time since I posted, so some background: I work security in a very large hotel, we service thousands of guests every day. Naturally, this gives me quite a few opportunities to encounter some SC's along the way, and I have a good list worked up since my last post quite some time ago. So, let's get started!

    The Elevator
    Our elevators have a security feature: after 10pm, you have to swipe your key card to get up to your room, otherwise you can't go to a guest floor. We have a lot of hobos downtown, this keeps them off the floors, and keeps random idiots from wandering to your room when they walk in at 3am, plowed, and banging on your door. Every elevator has 3 signs inside that tell people about this feature, and there are 4 signs on the elevator banks themselves on every floor that say the same thing. Despite this, I run into random individuals who claim they have been stuck on our "broken" elevator for anywhere between 5-60 minutes, then are even angrier when we swipe their key and show them it's been working the whole time. Bravo, you can't press buttons properly if there's a simple step beforehand.

    Get up. Now.
    I'm fairly friendly to most people, until I meet up with the drunken stare. You've all seen it, where you say something reasonable, and the person you're talking to squints and stares at you as if you've just said "I'm going to chop off my testicles and sail off to France to join the League of Justice." Now, the stare alone annoys me, because I can literally smell smoke as their drunk-ass brain tries to figure out exactly what you meant about their mother when you said "Hello" a moment ago. However, I feel a highly increased amount of annoyance when I run into the same jackass 2 hours later, passed out, lying on the floor in the middle of a hallway. Bonus points if they had problems with the elevator, and just went to sleep there instead. Lightning round points if, when woken up, they threaten to fight us (us being me, 2 co-workers, and 2-3 engineers). Final Jeopardy round, however, if they make the same threat when our friends from the police are on-hand to help out (we have 2 officers on weekends since people are idiots).

    The Sensationalist
    The greatest types of hotel guests, if you replace the word "greatest" with the words "justifiably murderable". They complain about everything: the food was too hot, then too cold, then there were only 2 sprigs of parsley. The pillows were soft, their hot shower was too steamy, we don't get the cheap-ass local station from 8 states away (or another country) on our televisions, and the bed could not accomodate 15 adopted children from Zimbabwe. Talking to them is, for the most part, a waste of time as the first 4 managers they talk to will be declared "rude" while the final manager they talk to will be "useless", despite the fact that we give them tons of free stuff and generally go out of our way to try and help this jackoffs. On the rare occasion that we actually make them happy, we will still get a complaint at our corporate office to get them even more free stuff.

    Woodchipper the Needy
    I'm an evil bastard. Now that I have that out of the way, I can tell you that, in most cases, the pain of other people does not really concern me that much. This is not to say that, during a medical emergency, I won't show any care for those who need it, however when we go to your room with emergency oxygen and medical supplies because you complain of being in, and I quote, "unbearable pain," you had better not suddenly say "I'm ok" then call us back in 20 minutes. Again. For the fourth time. The most recent time, the calls stopped when we told them that we were out of emergency oxygen and had no more to give them (their repeated calls for help drained almost our full supply, and we had to keep some for others). In short, if you really are hurting that bad, call the damn paramedics and get the hell out of here. However, really nice old ladies like the one I sent to the hospital tonight I can help all day, she was in horrid amounts of pain, took only ice, went to the hospital, and was making jokes and laughing the whole time to keep her spirits up. If I'm half as cool as that when I'm 50 (twice my age now), I'll be happy.

    No, you are not special
    This is a general statement: I do not care if you are a famous sports player, beer distributer, CEO/GM of a company, or spoiled rich bastard. In Colorado, alcohol stops at 2am, period. I'm not getting fined out the ass because you think you're god's gift to the universe.

    Closed Means Closed
    Our pool and hot tub close at 10pm every night. This is so we can clean them because you're entire grubby fucking family made the water turn green by swimming in it today like all the rest of the dirty, greasy-ass people in the hotel. No, I will not let you in to swim in the horrible, skin-burning chemicals. No, I will not open the pool area so you can "sit around there." Please see entry under "you are not special." Ass. The same thing goes for Room Service: just because they are closed does not mean that whining to me about it will get you anything. I really don't care.

    It's outside
    Three times this week, I shit you not, I have gotten complaints because someone saw a bug...outside. You know, in the outdoors. Folks, let me explain the concept of "Summer" to you: it just so happens that things get warmer when this Summer thing occurs. Then, these little things called insects move around outside. It's not my fault, why are you people still alive? How has someone not strangled you for the good of the planet yet!?!?

    Oops
    This one was less a piss-off than it was something to laugh about later. We had a guest who was screaming at one of the front desk agents for roughly 5-10 minutes, saying he was rude, and he was discriminating against him. The agent is calmly taking it all in stride, seeming to absently be playing on a web browser as the guest yells. At the end of the conversation, he swivels his computer monitor around so the guest can see, the man takes one look, stutters, then looks down at his feet, says "sorry", and walks away. See, the guest said he was being discriminated against because he was gay...not knowing the front desk agent was too. The webpage he brought up? His Myspace profile. Oops!

    Oops round two
    Another one like before, I was being yelled at for being racist by a black lady. She went on a long tirade about how she knew all the management of the hotel was white, and about how she just knew my manager was too, since he allowed us to treat her like that. She demands to speak to my manager...so out he walks. He's black. Suddenly she seems suddenly very embarassed by this, since his existence as my manager and friend all in one has deflated her argument before a word was even spoken. She just left after that, leaving my manager rather baffled. Oops...again.

    I think that's a good list...I'll add more later on
    "That's too bad. Hospitals aren't fun to fight through."
    "What IS fun to fight through?"
    "Gardens. Electronics shops. Antique stores, but only if they're classy."

  • #2
    That's a very nice list. And welcome back !
    "I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."

    Comment


    • #3
      awesome read; heartless bastards, unite!

      a bug...in SUMMER? gasp, the horrors, the terror, the inhumanity of it all: i want, no, i DEMAND you fumigate the entire outdoors NOW.

      i have a better idea:

      sc
      sealed clear cubicle
      raid

      problem solved simply.
      look! it's ghengis khan!
      Sorry, but while I can do many things, extracting heads from anuses isn't one of them. (so sayeth the irv)

      Comment


      • #4
        awesome read; heartless bastards, unite!
        I'm here! XD Now we just need Gravekeeper and...

        Oh, wait. Almost everyone. o0 We'll need a LOT of chips. And dip.
        The pen may be mightier than the sword, but the D20 rules all!!!

        Comment


        • #5
          Great read.

          Having worked in a very large and nice hotel in London, I know your pain.

          The problem is now I'm back in oz land I know work at a spa and resort, this just brings out the ew's.

          Can't wait for the next exciting chapter.
          Am I sad because I am looking forward to the day when the people I will be dealing with will no longer be able to talk back?

          Comment


          • #6
            And beer (or drink of your choice) and pizza. Sheesh, could you imagine the party?

            Nice list, good stories! Keep 'em coming, and welcome back!
            Confirmed altoholic.

            Comment


            • #7
              That was awesome! I am such a perv, though. I giggled to myself when I read:

              we service thousands of guests every day.
              I just couldn't help it.
              "You mean you don’t have the one piece of information you actually need? Well, stick your grubby paws in the crayon box, yank one out and colour me Fucking Shocked Fuchsia." - Gravekeeper

              Comment


              • #8
                Can I work there?
                Unseen but seeing
                oh dear, now they're masquerading as sane-KiaKat
                There isn't enough interpretive dance in the workplace these days-Irv
                3rd shift needs love, too
                RIP, mo bhrionglóid

                Comment


                • #9
                  I *LOATHE* the sensationalists. I work in the corporate office for Intercontinental Hotels Group as a supervisor and....my goodness. I get the *biggest* babies known to man kind. the sucky thing? If it's under $200.00 we are suppose to just give them what they want unless it's an extreme circumstance where no more compensation is warranted or unless it's a no show/advanced purchase rate/cancel past deadline.

                  ::sigh::

                  i always wondered what the sensationalists look like....i don't know HOW you can deal with them in person.
                  Without the mute button, I would die.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Welcome back and you might not have much patience, but you certainly have more that I would with those yahoos!

                    BUT....
                    Quoth KhirasHY View Post
                    However, really nice old ladies like the one I sent to the hospital tonight....If I'm half as cool as that when I'm 50 (twice my age now), I'll be happy.
                    You think 50 is old?
                    It's floating wicker propelled by fire!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      yay, another torchured hotel worker! I feel thy pain.
                      When it comes to getting things done, we need fewer architects and more bricklayers. ---Colleen C. Barrett---

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Quoth Pagan View Post
                        You think 50 is old?
                        Well, oldER, I suppose. Actually, in hindsight, she is quite young compared with most of the group she's with (who are in their 70's, on average).

                        That said, got two so far tonight:

                        Think as you I am.

                        This priceless gem came to us from the incredibly far distance of, oh, 5 blocks away, apparently. I don't know what the hell is wrong with these people, but going to a hotel to drink at the overpriced bar and get hammered is probably a sign that you need to be killed with fire. Your children too, if we've been unfortunate enough to have you create any. Anyway, if you decide to be a mental wasteland and get drunk here, then expect to drive afterwards, it's not going to happen. See, we're not going to let you take your car from the valet when you can't stand right, and then crash and kill someone perfectly innocent from your stupidity. Of course, when we won't give this woman her car keys, she calls her "lawyer friend" (Bonus, the same person who alerted us that she was too drunk to drive) and has him try to tell us off, not realizing that every time she takes her ear away from the phone, he is telling us not to give her the damn keys too. She then calls 911 to have the police give her a breathalyzer so she can take her car...to which 2 officers respond, give her the test (she's way over), then suddenly turn around to see her grabbing the keys from the startled valet and starting her car. She makes it 5 feet before being stopped and pulled from the car, and arrested for driving drunk.

                        Amazing, this lass.

                        My Sink is Like Every Sink

                        There are regular hotel customers, and there are irregular regular hotel customers. The latter are generally the type that need bodily injury, and the one we met tonight was no different. She has now occupied 4 rooms and counting...first room has a dirty bathroom (she found a shoeprint from an engineer who had worked in there earlier. Ok, I understand that, we're good). Second room has a light out. Not broken, BURNT OUT! Instead of just having the bulb replaced, she HAS to get a new room (we're less good now). Third room, the sink doesn't drain properly, so she has to get a new room...she can't just have it fixed either (oh you dirty hooker). So we go to the 4th room, and I check it over myself...check the bathtub/shower, check the sink drain, the toilet, the lights, the TV, the iHome in the room, EVERYTHING, it's all fine. She gets in the room, calls me 2 minutes later, and the sink...doesn't drain properly? I call up an Engineer to go look with me...it works just fine. Her objection is that, when she runs the water at full power, some of the water slowly backs up. Like it does in every sink I've ever seen. The engineer finally just removes the stopper for the sink, so now I'm sure she'll complain that she can't wash her face or something in the shower.

                        So, all this happens...and now, she just (minutes ago) called down again to say she has to room move in the morning (what happened to her saying she was tired 3 hours ago?) because her disabled mother is coming to stay with her, and needs a roll-in shower. Are you fucking kidding me!? We've bounced you around the hotel all damn day, and you don't even have the decency to mention that we could just move you to a proper fucking room tonight and save ourselves the trouble? Shit, why don't we just bounce you between 8 disabled-access rooms tomorrow and settle on one like a roulette wheel so you can bitch about how all the other rooms you saw for 5 seconds were sub-par!? Add to that this same idiot keeps making requests for items at 3am, so my Security team is taking her the items. She keeps making requests for the same items over and over (slippers, robes, shampoo, etc), so she now has 3 pairs of slippers, 2 robes, and 8 bottles of shampoo. Granted, she's hairy like any other ogre female, so she probably needs a lot, but christ, I want to choke this woman to death.

                        Someone, please, kill me.

                        With a hammer.

                        Slowly.
                        "That's too bad. Hospitals aren't fun to fight through."
                        "What IS fun to fight through?"
                        "Gardens. Electronics shops. Antique stores, but only if they're classy."

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I don't like the people who seem to find all the little dumb shit wrong in rooms, and all too often it's just cuz it's "not like theirs at home". Go home then.

                          I prefer legitimate complaints.
                          When it comes to getting things done, we need fewer architects and more bricklayers. ---Colleen C. Barrett---

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Quoth KhirasHY View Post
                            However, really nice old ladies like the one I sent to the hospital tonight I can help all day, she was in horrid amounts of pain, took only ice, went to the hospital, and was making jokes and laughing the whole time to keep her spirits up. If I'm half as cool as that when I'm 50 (twice my age now), I'll be happy.
                            Since when does being 50 make you an old lady???????
                            GK/Kara/Jester fangirl.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Actually, that question would make more sense the other way around.

                              When I was a kid, anyone 50 was old. My father is only a bit over 55 and he's considered a 'senior citizen' and has a hell of a time finding another job.

                              Not being considered "old", in all relativity, at 50 is quite a recent phenomenon, in my opinion.
                              "I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X