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So on Saturday I posted this thread about an encounter with a cadaver at work that morning. The next day started out much worse...
My husband was dropping me off at work Sunday morning. We are a one car family, so this is the norm. We were nearly to the hotel and I said to him "Here's to a much less stressful, cadaver-free day." I didn't get the word "cadaver" out of my mouth before we saw the front of the hotel and the flashing lights of five police cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance. My original statement ended in "Oh, sh*t!" Rather than get in the middle of that, we went to the back and my husband came in with me to make sure everything was ok before leaving me there. (Have I ever mentioned my husband is AMAZING!) We came in to find the breakfast chef (BC) and the human resources director (HR) who was manager on duty talking in the back hallway. HR is an incredibly sweet person and didn't deserve this at all. There had been a commotion on the 4th floor. Some sort of party was going on up there, then someone screamed so loud that the front desk was getting calls from the 11th floor to see what was going on. The security guard was up there handling the situation.
HR walked away to go take care of things leaving BC, my husband and I to see what happened next. The service elevator door opened and a team of paramedics came out doing CPR on a body on a gurney. I didn't want to look, but couldn't tear my eyes away. I had never seen anything like it. The CPR was obviously pointless. I have been to funerals and the body never looked that dead. It was a young man appearing to be in his late 20s, his skin was grey and his lips were purple. As they turned the corner to take him out to the lobby and through the front doors to the ambulance his head rolled toward us. It was awful. I don't know if I will ever get those images out of my mind. Turns out he had died of a drug overdose.
BC had seen it all before from the 70s, so he knew right away what had killed him. My husband has seen it before in his work with the police, but it was very new and horrifying to me. Let me just say that I tend to be tough. I can endure a lot of physical pain and exhaustion, lift heavy objects, gut out fish without a flinch, and work circles around a lot of the men in the kitchen (says my boss, not trying to toot my own horn), but that got to me. That's not an image that leaves you any time soon.
Of course, the only thing you can do is cope, carry on, and go about your business. I hated the 3 1/2 hours breakfast was open working on the omelet station smiling and pretending everything was great. No, I didn't just see one of the most horrifying things I've witnessed in my lifetime. The worst was the guests who would ask questions about it. We all lied and said we didn't know anything. No way in hell we're going to violate the family's privacy that way!
BC and I talked later on. We're both glad we're off today. Saturday and Sunday both started with dead bodies, the latter in a horrifying manner. We don't want to know what comes next. I told him we're working for Hotel California.
My husband was dropping me off at work Sunday morning. We are a one car family, so this is the norm. We were nearly to the hotel and I said to him "Here's to a much less stressful, cadaver-free day." I didn't get the word "cadaver" out of my mouth before we saw the front of the hotel and the flashing lights of five police cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance. My original statement ended in "Oh, sh*t!" Rather than get in the middle of that, we went to the back and my husband came in with me to make sure everything was ok before leaving me there. (Have I ever mentioned my husband is AMAZING!) We came in to find the breakfast chef (BC) and the human resources director (HR) who was manager on duty talking in the back hallway. HR is an incredibly sweet person and didn't deserve this at all. There had been a commotion on the 4th floor. Some sort of party was going on up there, then someone screamed so loud that the front desk was getting calls from the 11th floor to see what was going on. The security guard was up there handling the situation.
HR walked away to go take care of things leaving BC, my husband and I to see what happened next. The service elevator door opened and a team of paramedics came out doing CPR on a body on a gurney. I didn't want to look, but couldn't tear my eyes away. I had never seen anything like it. The CPR was obviously pointless. I have been to funerals and the body never looked that dead. It was a young man appearing to be in his late 20s, his skin was grey and his lips were purple. As they turned the corner to take him out to the lobby and through the front doors to the ambulance his head rolled toward us. It was awful. I don't know if I will ever get those images out of my mind. Turns out he had died of a drug overdose.
BC had seen it all before from the 70s, so he knew right away what had killed him. My husband has seen it before in his work with the police, but it was very new and horrifying to me. Let me just say that I tend to be tough. I can endure a lot of physical pain and exhaustion, lift heavy objects, gut out fish without a flinch, and work circles around a lot of the men in the kitchen (says my boss, not trying to toot my own horn), but that got to me. That's not an image that leaves you any time soon.
Of course, the only thing you can do is cope, carry on, and go about your business. I hated the 3 1/2 hours breakfast was open working on the omelet station smiling and pretending everything was great. No, I didn't just see one of the most horrifying things I've witnessed in my lifetime. The worst was the guests who would ask questions about it. We all lied and said we didn't know anything. No way in hell we're going to violate the family's privacy that way!
BC and I talked later on. We're both glad we're off today. Saturday and Sunday both started with dead bodies, the latter in a horrifying manner. We don't want to know what comes next. I told him we're working for Hotel California.
I'm sorry you had to see that. 
I write, my friend Red draws. Comments welcome. Leave them on their, or on my profile here. 
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