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Mar. 10th, 2005 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kokopellinelliMost of you know that, a couple summers ago, I worked in a hotel. I was on the 3pm to 11pm shift, and I hated it. The worst part was the bar being right next to the lobby, and all the drunk people going in and out, but I did have a fair share of sucky customers as well. However, I also had quite a few nice customers. Anyway, this isn't about the customers.
It occured to me that whenever I talk about the hotel, it's to complain about the people there. I never mention my coworkers.
As it happens, my coworkers (most of them) are what made that job bearable. I wasn't REALLY fond of my boss, he seemed humorless, but he wasn't mean or unfair. At least not to me. Most of the other guys who worked the desk (I was the only female) were really cool, with the exception of F, who was NEVER ON TIME. He was on rotating shift, so a couple times a week, he would relieve me. He was routinely 10, 15, even 20 minutes late. But he was nice.
The bartenders were cool, and often invited me to come into the bar and have a drink at the end of my shift. I never took them up on it, because at 11 at night all I really want to do is go home. Alcohol makes me sleepy, and I had a 20 minute drive to get home each night.
I really liked the cook in the restaurant, he was very nice and courteous all the time, plus he was huge so I knew I could count on him in case anyone ever got rowdy. The waitstaff were nice, too, and would come talk to me in the lobby if they weren't busy, because I wasn't allowed to leave the desk for too long.
The housekeepers were very nice all the time, though I couldn't understand what they were saying, as they only spoke Korean. I believe they were my boss's mother and mother-in-law.
But the person I remember the most for her sheer kindness was my boss's wife. She spoke VERY little English, and if I asked her a question she would either smile and say "Yes" or look confused. But one hot afternoon, my boss came in and handed me a cup of some sort of cream drink with fresh watermelon in it, and said, "Here. My wife told me to give this to you." I asked him what it was and he shrugged and left, but it was very refreshing. She would give me little treats when she stopped by the desk, a piece of candy or a cookie. Once, she brought me an entire plate of some sort of Korean food (don't know what it was, but it was good) and said, "Eat. You hungry." (As a side note, a lot of the older women I know seem to think they need to constantly feed me, which I don't understand. I don't exactly look like I'm fading away or anything. But I'm not complaining.)
A few days before my last day working was my birthday. She came in with a wrapped present and gave it to me, and when I told her it wasn't necessary, she smiled and left again. It was a lamp in the shape of a plant, with a fairy on it.
Anyway. I hated that job because of the customers and drunks I had to deal with, not the people I worked with. They made the job worthwhile.
It occured to me that whenever I talk about the hotel, it's to complain about the people there. I never mention my coworkers.
As it happens, my coworkers (most of them) are what made that job bearable. I wasn't REALLY fond of my boss, he seemed humorless, but he wasn't mean or unfair. At least not to me. Most of the other guys who worked the desk (I was the only female) were really cool, with the exception of F, who was NEVER ON TIME. He was on rotating shift, so a couple times a week, he would relieve me. He was routinely 10, 15, even 20 minutes late. But he was nice.
The bartenders were cool, and often invited me to come into the bar and have a drink at the end of my shift. I never took them up on it, because at 11 at night all I really want to do is go home. Alcohol makes me sleepy, and I had a 20 minute drive to get home each night.
I really liked the cook in the restaurant, he was very nice and courteous all the time, plus he was huge so I knew I could count on him in case anyone ever got rowdy. The waitstaff were nice, too, and would come talk to me in the lobby if they weren't busy, because I wasn't allowed to leave the desk for too long.
The housekeepers were very nice all the time, though I couldn't understand what they were saying, as they only spoke Korean. I believe they were my boss's mother and mother-in-law.
But the person I remember the most for her sheer kindness was my boss's wife. She spoke VERY little English, and if I asked her a question she would either smile and say "Yes" or look confused. But one hot afternoon, my boss came in and handed me a cup of some sort of cream drink with fresh watermelon in it, and said, "Here. My wife told me to give this to you." I asked him what it was and he shrugged and left, but it was very refreshing. She would give me little treats when she stopped by the desk, a piece of candy or a cookie. Once, she brought me an entire plate of some sort of Korean food (don't know what it was, but it was good) and said, "Eat. You hungry." (As a side note, a lot of the older women I know seem to think they need to constantly feed me, which I don't understand. I don't exactly look like I'm fading away or anything. But I'm not complaining.)
A few days before my last day working was my birthday. She came in with a wrapped present and gave it to me, and when I told her it wasn't necessary, she smiled and left again. It was a lamp in the shape of a plant, with a fairy on it.
Anyway. I hated that job because of the customers and drunks I had to deal with, not the people I worked with. They made the job worthwhile.
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Date: 2005-03-10 05:01 pm (UTC)I'm glad you had a decent time with your co-workers at least. I had the exact opposite and much more rare problem at Scholastic. I thought our customers were great, and that the people I worked with sucked.
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Date: 2005-03-10 05:07 pm (UTC)...
Now I want chicken. Dammit.
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Date: 2005-03-10 08:06 pm (UTC)Nina
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Date: 2005-03-10 08:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-10 10:55 pm (UTC)nina
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Date: 2005-03-10 11:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-11 06:55 am (UTC)Nina
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Date: 2005-03-11 01:57 pm (UTC)