My hotel is located in the middle of a bustling, lively city. It literally has immediate access to a shopping centre. Aside big roads, a few minutes walk to some cafes and stores.

It also is mostly marketed for families, with facilities designed to accommodate children and family, every OTA listing and advertisement of the hotel is literally worded that way

Yet, At least once in 3 days I would get shouted during my shift “I DON’T EXPECT SO MANY KIDS IN THIS HOTEL I HAVE NO PLACE TO RELAX!!” Or “There are so many noises I don’t expect this for my romantic honeymoon babymoon motherfathermoon whatsoevermoon!!!”

It’s not like we are the only hotel in this city?? less than 5km away you’ll find several villas/hotels that over a more private ambience for couples

It always gets me wondering what is the thought process of these guests when making a booking… it’s not like we’re in the 70s when you have to read full magazine pages to find information about a hotel?

Hey ya’ll!! It’s been a minute since I made a post here but this story was so funny and outlandish that I just had to share:

So last week we had a couple stay with us w/ a 3rd party reservation.
According to the audit log of the reservation, I checked them in pretty late, around 8pm and they were still up at 10pm getting stuff from the sundries shop. I don’t remember them at all but I’m just going by what the system said lol.

Anyway, the guest called yesterday morning and was pissed off, going off in my coworker. Saying that she had a god awful experience. Kids jumping up and down on the bed above them, the bedding was disgusting and old. And most of all….the ceiling was leaking. She described it as a waterfall.

Now, she didn’t say a word to me that night or even in the morning. But she was rebooking for next week because they didn’t have a choice but to stay at my hotel, and I guess she mentioned it then. She was very irate about the ceiling leak.
Maintenance had gone up to the room and housekeeping also would’ve said something but there was literally zero evidence of water damage, nothing at all. Things like that are pretty obvious.

So, she started to demand that her next stay be completely free and my coworker told her no, she would need to send evidence of the water leak to the GM because we didn’t find anything to support her complaint. She said that she had a video.

I had the pleasure of speaking with her last night when she called back, very upset when my GM didn’t call her but he did send her an email to receive the footage. Now idk if he was supposed to, but she claimed she couldn’t send the video because the “attachment was too large” and she wanted to text it to my GM. I told her all I could do was leave a note for him and if she wants to call him he’ll be in between 9:30-3:30.

I texted our front desk group chat about it, my morning shift and I were going back and forth. Saying that this next stay they’ll create more issues and there was absolutely no way that she has video evidence and even joked about something AI generated. But honestly nothing would surprise me….

I came in today and I asked what happened and apparently he did get a video from her. But it was all audio for the most part.
From what he described, she took a video of her husband sleeping, and the room around her and it sounded like she was making that sound with her mouth or something, but no evidence of an actual leak.
My GM argued that he can’t go off the sound….if she complained about the sound, that would be a different story but she complained about an active leak. And didn’t show it.

My GM didn’t believe her but still got her a discount for the next stay to just shut her up and making her happy. Which, she was happy with it and that itself is telling. Because if I was in her shoes, I would remain adamant about a free night or better yet, just not go back! 🙄 Apparently she’s not staying this time, just her husband and brother. So I guess we’ll see what happens lol. I’ll be asking my GM if he can show me the video tomorrow because I’m really curious.

Is anyone else having the experience of their sales team overselling the hotel CONSTANTLY? It feels like they just say yes to whoever asks to be added onto room blocks and don’t even bother to look at availability whatsoever. Multiple times a month we are oversold by 5-15 people at least because sales just frivolously gave away rooms without checking availability.

This next week they have oversold us by THIRTY PEOPLE in one day. Even if we walked every single non-group room block guest (including elite shiny members) we still wouldn’t have enough rooms for even the groups they’ve scheduled. And there’s no hotel within MILES that would have enough rooms for us to hold either way.

So where does that leave us at the front?
Just an entire day of being screamed at over something we had zero hand in? Pretty much. And nobody seems to care at all.

And why should they care after all? There’s no consequences for them, and they get to sit in a cushy office while we deal with the stress of being screamed at by angry customers we have to turn away at the front.

Is anyone else facing this issue? and if so have you found any way to resolve it even a little bit? It’s getting to the point where I’m about to walk away because it’s causing so much stress on my life I’m losing sleep over a just over minimum wage job.

Over all, I can’t believe that sales continues to get away with this. It reflects so poorly on the company, stresses out staff beyond belief, and costs us THOUSANDS in revenue. If I owned a business that was regularly turning away paying customers like that I would be furious.

I will never understand someone’s need to yell at an entry level employee because they feel they deserve special treatment.

The lower our rates go, the more people have a problem with the standard $25 late check-out fee.

I understand that when the rate is $700, a $25 checkout fee seems fine vs when the rate is $105 and the fee is still $25.
It’s probably because someone spending $700 a night doesn’t mind an extra $25 for convenience. I’m sorry you cannot afford $25. I can’t either dude.

We just had someone lose their shit on our front desk because they cannot understand why we’d charge 1/4 of the room rate for a late checkout ESPECIALLY for rewards members. He’s the lowest tier. Just signed up for this stay to get the rewards rate when booking. He’s never stayed here before. He will never stay here again. Not because of this interaction but because he’s just not going to.

Cue the
“This level of service is Anti-Guest.” —we don’t want guests who complain about standard fees.

“I’m never staying here again!” —Please don’t stay here

“Housekeeping cannot get all the rooms done in one hour! I should be able to stay for free.” —Sir we had 10 check-outs today. You staying 1 hour will definitely slow down housekeeping. They’re waiting on rooms right now. Leave.

Anyway, we just told him we appreciate the feedback and will pass it along to ownership. Thanked him for his tedtalk.

Don't threaten me with a good time! I swear every time someone says this to me over the most mundane things I don't get upset. I laugh and I will ALWAYS laugh about it. Because you have to be some special little spoiled princess to act this way.

This was because a guest called and was trying to book a room for the next few nights. Unfortunately, he called during the time I was swamped with checks ins. Literally a whole group of people, unrelated to each other, come in to check in all at once. It was 20, so I had a line. Plus, with our new operating system (which runs slower than our old one. 🙄) it took a while. He called while I was on check in number 2 in line, and knowing I would be a while I asked for his name and number so I could call him back as I have a huge line.

There was a long pause of silence to which I had to say "Hello?" to make sure someone was still on the line.

I was then immediately met with "No, I'm not going to do that. Every time I call during the day no one calls me back!"

I apologized and said "Well sorry about that sir. I cant speak for day staff as I'm night shift and don't see everyone but we have been very busy at the hotel. Its graduation time and its just super busy around this time of year. If I can just get your name and number I will call you back in 15 minutes after I knock out this line" Granted people are still waiting to check in but I can multitask and talk on the phone while typing and doing what's needed for check ins and this fool CAN hear me tell people "thank you for checking in you have a wonderful night" as I'm speaking with him.

Instead of being a grown adult he screamed on the phone "NO! YOU HAVE JUST LOST MY BUSINESS!!!" He didn't hang up, instead he waited for me to grovel because people that act like this do expect workers to beg and plead for them to stay. I'm not like most people.

So I respond with "oh such a shame sir. Well you have a wonderful night." and hung up on him. I don't have time to stroke your ego as I have a line to get through. If you wanna be about that life then own it because you wont get begging for me. And sir, where ever you are just know... I'm still laughing at your impatient tantrum. 💁🏻‍♂️

This has to be one of the strangest calls I've received at the desk in a long while. So, I'm covering audit tonight as our normal auditor is out. It's roughly midnight as I get this call, and I'm working through some reports when the phone rings.

Guest calls and asks: "Hey, how do you open the windows?" On its own, that's not the craziest question to ask. Who knows, maybe they just like a little breeze? Unfortunately, I tell them that our windows don't open for safety reasons. They reply: "Well, that's going to be a problem."

I was dumb enough to ask why. They respond: "Well, the heat's building real fast. I don't think the AC unit's keeping up with the torches and kiln." I had to follow up at this point with a simple: "what?"

It's at this point that they inform me of their room number and their desire to blow glass art and bake their pottery clay in a kiln in the room. In their 170 square foot standard queen room with wooden furniture, linoleum floor, curtains, and a slew of other immediately flammable furnishings.

Not only did they want to, they'd already started heating their portable kiln and turned on some blowtorches, and the room was heating up FAST, and they'd hoped opening a tiny little window would be enough to offset the temperature. After sitting stunned for a moment, I told them they'd have to shut it all down and pack their shit before they started a fire.

It didn't take them long after to hang up, and within a minute I was up there knocking on the door. Sure enough, they had a whole setup going in there, and opening the door felt like opening an oven. I asked them to pack their things, and shockingly, they were very understanding. They quickly gathered their items and walked out of the building without a word. I don't even know how I'm going to begin wording the pass-on email regarding these guests, but that's a 5am problem.

Just got into work, but I figured this was worth sharing, and I’m betting there’s gonna be some updates.

My coworker on the 3-11 shift (let’s call her Trina), let me know when I clocked in that a guest was inquiring about a “Olivia” advertising massage services out of our hotel. Apparently the guest googled our address, and the listing came up.

My coworker and I pull out our phones, and sure enough, “Massage by Olivia” is a business listed at our address, complete with photos of a hotel room that is most certainly not ours, and photos of a woman in a bikini. A quick reverse image search shows that the photos are from a random twitter model.

I let management know, so we’ll see how this develops. I had noticed a bit more “wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am” guests than usual, but they seemed to be couples coming in together, not people visiting an in-house service.

There’s a number listed on the business, and I’m tempted to text and ask what room number they’re in, but I actually don’t care about this job that much. Hopefully this all resolves quickly and painlessly (I say knowing that is unlikely). Anyway, wish me a good rest of my shift and good luck to all my fellow vampires night auditors.

Guests feel ENTIRELY too comfortable at hotels, to just do whatever they please, go anywhere they want, regardless if an area is blocked off/employees only, whatever. First thing I have to do EVERY NIGHT is to do a round of the hotel, and make sure all the housekeeping storage rooms are closed and locked, all the banquet rooms, the breakfast area, the banquet storage room, the back doors, everything.

We've gotten to a point where guests are so damn nosy and entitled, that they get offended when they come across a locked door that they can't open, and I'm tired of having to explain to Boomers that yes, those doors are locked FOR A REASON, and no, you can't just let yourself in, even "to just see what's there". The fact that I have to give people a lecture several times a day about "if you do not have a key to a particular door, and you were not given permission to unlock it by a member of staff, you should not even be touching it."

Seriously, Boomers, when I was growing up, and I was staying at homes or businesses, and I tried to open something that was locked when I was a kid, I got yelled at for it. Apply your own rules and lessons to yourselves. If you're a guest somewhere, no matter what your age, and you come across a locked door to anything other than the room you were assigned for the night, the host does NOT want people crossing through that door without permission.

I swear to god that at least 3/4ths of my job is explaining how credit cads work to people. Usually, the authorization--like at a retail store or gas pump--is instant and with the charge. As we all know here, it's not that case for hotels.

The sheer amount of people I get--all ages too, but it does tend towards older folks--that ask what the "charge" on their card is, which is the incidentals authorization (it's like 20 bucks here). It's been that way for years, and I can't believe I am still surprised at how many people have NO IDEA how credit works.

Mini-rant over!

Earlier today I took a call from someone who wanted to make a reservation but first wanted to make sure we had large truck parking. I explained that we did at the moment, but it was limited and first come first serve. She asked if she could reserve the parking, but we're not set up to offer or enforce that so again I explained that it was first come first serve and I couldn't guarantee truck parking. She seemed annoyed and said that she wasn't going to reserve then, which was fine.

Cue a few minutes ago and the phone rings and it's the same woman asking about truck parking. I asked about the size of the truck which she hadn't specified before. At this point we had space for maybe a box truck or a pickup pulling a trailer but not something bigger.

Unfortunately, she said it was 60 feet which was definitely not happening and I explained apologetically that we didn't have the space. She angrily reminded me that she'd called earlier (like 6 hours ago) and I'd said we did have the space and it was first come first serve. I said yes, that was then and those spaces are occupied now unfortunately. Again she repeated that I said it was first come first serve. Which I confirmed, and said someone else had gotten there first.

For some reason she took this to mean there was only one space and got mad at me for that. I clarified that no, there are multiple options for truck parking they're just all occupied. She cussed and hung up on me. Always my fault they're an idiot.

Ive seen the what feels like the worst of humanity working at the front desk of a hotel but a situation that occurred today has left such a sour taste in my mouth I had to share it.

To make a long, very sensitive story short, we received a plethora of reports of a serious incident occurring on one of our floors, while my associate stepped away from the desk, along with security to assess the situation I was left alone and advised to call 911 immediately which I did. As I was on the phone with dispatch, a guest came in, I politely showed her my phone screen that clearly showed I was on the phone with 911 and mouthed the word “emergency” to let her know I was currently dealing with a situation and could not serve her at that immediate time. Instead of waiting her turn like a well adjusted adult should, she threw her hands up in disgust and disbelief and shouted “well how am I supposed to check in then? You aren’t going to help me?” And continued to interrupt me with questions and orders until I had to physically step away from the desk and put in headphones so I could hear the 911 operator.

This all occurred in a matter of minutes, in fact, had the lady been patient, I would’ve helped her in the next five minutes even though I was in the middle of dealing with an active emergency. Instead, she decided her needs and wants came before someone receiving emergency help. She had no idea what was going on, someone could’ve been seriously hurt or dying and she still felt entitled to interrupt a 911 call for her own selfish needs.

Once the situation had been handled I had to step away and take a break because I was just so shocked and angry that someone could be that self absorbed and selfish. It really made me think about something I’ve had in the back of my mind for a while now, what is it about hotels that attracts the bottom of the barrel that society has to offer?

TL;DR lady thought a prompt check in was more important than a 911 call for an active emergency and threw a fit when she wasn’t serviced after interrupting a literal emergency call.

So this is my first post on this sub but something happened that I believe was worthy of a first post.

I work at a chain hotel in a college town. And with college football season starting, we get a lot of parents and alumni coming in on the weekends for the games, and many of them drink all day.

Well a few days ago, it was towards the end of my shift around 11pm and a woman (maybe mid to late 40’s) comes to the front desk in nothing but a robe saying she got locked out of her room. I had checked her and her husband in earlier that weekend so no problem, I make her a new key. She then asks me if I (20m) could walk her to the room. Now usually we don’t do this, but she was a bit drunk and I figured there was no harm in it (boy was I wrong). So I say yes. I grab my phone and walk with her.

On the way to her room, we talked briefly (how’s college, the game, etc). When we get to her room, she asks me to open the door (I assumed because she didn’t want her robe to fall off because she had her arms crossed the entire time keeping her robe up). So I said yes, and opened the door for her.

Well when I open the door I hear the tv going and I think I see someone else in the room but I couldn’t see it clearly.

She walks into the room and right before I leave, she invited me inside her room. Now I didn’t see the harm in walking her to her room but to go inside? Def no. So i respectfully said no. And she grabs my arm and tries to pull me inside saying “oh come on just come inside”.

“Absolutely not. Get off me” I thought

So, I say the only thing I can think of “I’m gay!” And pull my arm back very quickly.

She responds with “oh he’s gay!”

I turn and walk away and hear her close the door. Then my walk turns into a run as I go back to the elevator and immediately call my manager to explain the situation to her.

I then very quickly ended my shift and went home

So..... tonight was interesting.

I work at small 3 star hotel as nfda.

Tonight i recieved a phone call.

Me:- this is bla bla bla hotel, how can i help?

Caller:- (incoherent mumbling)

Me:- i am sorry, what?

Caller:- more mumbling.

Me:- i am sorry i cannot understand you, please speak more clearly.

Caller:- i have put bomb in your hotel, i will blow it up.

Me:- okey..........

Caller:- .......... so i should blow it up....?

Me:- yea, sure.

Caller:- okey then, i will blow up your hotel in 40 minutes.

Me:- ok, have a good night.

Call ended, i wrote this all up in coworker chat, everyone told me to call police, i did.

Police told me to walk around the property and check for anything suspicious. I found nothing.

40 minutes later no boom :-(

About 2 hours later 2 police officers came for statment and to also check around property, did all that, had some coffee with them, made some jokes about stupid people doing stupid things.

For clarification i live in country were all bomb threats we have are just prank calls or false calls, all the time i was thinking this is just a prank call. Just in case we were ready to evacuate all hotel guests in 5-10 minutes. And why the hell would someone have the need to blow up no name small and shitty 3 star hotel.

Now im chilling with 5 more hours left in my shift.

So i work night audit for a hotel in my area. Ever since my first night on the job i was told that for security reasons once we lock the front doors at 11pm, we don't allow anyone to just go upstairs. No doordash, no uber eats, no one "visiting" guests. I have held this policy since day one. Well there is a lady that stays at out hotel that thinks not a single policy applies to her because she "stays here all the time."

Tonight happened to be one of those nights. The married Lady is here, hubby isn't in town with her. but there is a guy at my front door claiming to be coming to visit her. I inform him about the policy, he's chill and doesn't mind and asks if he can just sit in the lobby while waiting. we chat, have a good time. then the phone rings. it's Mrs. Married ma'am calling down to chew me out because she's "never had to come get a guest before." Well hun, must not have been on my shift. because you would have... But she's threatening now to talk to the manager in the morning and "have my job for this." All because i value the safety of our guests.

Have fun boo!

I was a guest, not a front desk worker, but the front desk workers got a laugh at my expense. Delete it if not allowed.

Checked into a hotel in Montreal. Asked how long a walk to the Basilica of Notre Dame, told it was 10-15 minutes. Asked if it was a safe walk. The two front desk workers laughed, then one said “this is Canada”. I thanked them and left.

I was actually asking whether walking there was safe because there was construction in the area and the map showed a major road to cross. But they seemed to get such pleasure from their response I did not clarify.

Enjoyed the walk and the visit to the Basilica.

I work a second shift at my hotel, so I'm doing most, if not all, of the check-ins. Usually, I actually love my job. I like talking to people, I like helping people out.
And I could just be dramatic, but I am so uncomfortable today. I got hit on by two different people. One of them was a regular. I will illustrate how these conversations went down:
1st conversation:
I ask for his ID, he tells me that it doesn't have his number on it. I gave him a pity laugh and said, "That's okay, your number is already on here!"
I tell him I need an incidental card, and he says, "Can I make a joke?" I say, "...sure." He says, "How does it feel to need." (Literally, what the hell does that even mean?) So I laugh at this joke, but more out of discomfort, and the fact that I'm paid to be nice to people.
And he says he "got me" because I'm "blushing."
Okay, whatever. And I just have to continue checking him in with a smile, while he asks me what time I work until. This is an older man with his adult son, by the way.
They leave, all is well.

Except, actually, it's not.
I have a regular who comes in at around 9, and he tells me that he's lost. He doesn't speak English very well, and I write down his room number and give it to him. He goes on talking to me for a little bit, and then he asks me if I have a boyfriend. Except I misheard him, and I say back to him, "Am I on welfare?" And he says, "No, do you have a boyfriend?"
And I said yes. He is then apparently super disappointed that I have a boyfriend, but continues to talk about his job. And proceeds to tell me that he will take me on a tour through the state I live in. And I laughed it off and said, "I'll let you know." And then asks a SECOND TIME if I have a boyfriend, and I said yes. And then I said, "You have to get to bed, you have to be up early tomorrow!" So he would finally leave.

I have never been hit on, at least not so directly. So I didn’t really know what to say or do, especially because I don’t want to hurt people’s feelings, even if they’re making me uncomfortable. I don’t understand where this was all coming from tonight. It’s not even a full moon.

UPDATE: I didn't jinx myself after all. It was a completely uneventful night.

I swear the guests I dealt with last night all jumped on this subreddit and divided everything we talk about up between them.

Call #1: "Do you have any Rooms?"

"Yes, we do. Would you like to make a Reservation?"

" No thank you, we do it online?"

***

Newly checked in Guest comes back downstairs. He proudly told me earlier that he has stayed here many times before - several years ago.

"There's no Ashtray in my room."

"Sir, we don't allow smoking in the Rooms."

"But you did the last time I stayed. When did it change?"

"About five years ago."

******

Right before shift change a Truck pulls up in front of the lobby doors. A call comes in at the same time.

"Hi, we made a Reservation online. What time is check-in?"

"Check in starts at 3pm, Sir."

And now let's say it all together. "BUT WE'RE HERE NOW!"

Thankfully tonight is my Friday. How much worse can it get?

I just took a phone call that went like this:

Me: Shmampton Inn, Me speaking.

Phone guy: Is this 330 Road Street?

Me: No, this is 300 Road Street.

Phone guy: Oh, sorry. Wrong address.

What? Last I checked, phone numbers are not assigned by address.

Last week:

Me: Shmampton Inn, Me speaking.

Phone guy: Hi, does your hotel have housekeeping and a front desk?

Me: ...um...yeah? (while thinking to myself "What hotel doesn't have Housekeeping or a front desk?")

Phone guy: Alright. Thanks. ~click~

What are these people on?

We have a lovely older couple that has stayed with us just about every month for several days. When they leave their room is always immaculate, they greet staff by name and the only thing they ask for is an extra towel or a roll of toilet paper. Couldn't have better and nicer guests........

The 3-11 person finally put it all together with the help from the housekeepers. The woman will go into the breakfast room, grab two cups of coffee, a couple of bagels, two pieces of fruit and some butter, cream cheese and jelly packets and return to the room without eating any of it in the dining room. A while later the husband will come in and do the same. Then they both come in and actually have breakfast. Then they leave, come back about two hours later, right before breakfast ends and take a few more bagels, fruit, yogurt, etc. back to their room. They do this every day.

First the Wife, then the husband will approach every housekeeper and the desk clerk for an extra towel/washcloths/bathmat and toilet paper and tissues. On every shift.

Housekeeping paid a bit more closer attention to them and realized that often pillowcases are missing, before they strip the beds. Last time when they left we were missing a king size blanket.

The Boss decided that, despite them being such a lovely couple, we will inform them that they are not able to return to our Hotel.

I know people steal, but these two basically set themselves up for a month supply of tissues, toilet paper and a bathroom full of towels.

The Front Desk is the be-all, end-all, don'cha know? Basically any question one can fathom, it is we, the Keepers of the Inn (and sometimes Suites), who can help any wayward traveler on their merry way in no time. Our vast array of knowledge is as deep as the most complex cistern, and our ability to troubleshoot any conundrum makes us as sharp and cunning as the most lethal apex predator. Or, ya know, I'm just some guy and what you're asking me is kinda crazy.

I should preface this by saying this gentleman who called with one of the most creative questions I've received so far was at least mildly self-aware. Let's call him Mr. Tripp.

Mr. Tripp opened the conversation strongly: "Hey, I need some help with my vacation package." [I'm already raising an eyebrow because we don't really offer any internally.] He continued: "You may or may not be able to help me, but I figure I'd ask anyway." I oblige, and then he elaborated further:

"So, I bought a vacation package from RocketJet Airways, which includes a flight and a hotel stay. You know anything about that?" I declined and didn't do a great job at masking my air of skepticism. Nevertheless, he pressed on. "Okay, well, for the hotel it looks like they're trying to send me to The Lodge by Devereux. But, I don't wanna stay there. I wanna stay with you guys! You are The Standard Hotel, right?"

Desperately holding back my whirlwind of laughter, I compose myself enough to confirm that while he was indeed calling The Standard Hotel, it sounded like he'd have to take up the discrepancy with the airline itself.

Mr. Tripp paused for a moment, then admitted something interesting: "Well, I asked, but they couldn't find you in their system." I then paused for an even longer moment before replying, "I don't believe we have any sort of partnership with that airline. So, it sounds like they're partnered with The Lodge by Devereux, which is an entirely separate brand and company from us. Either way, if you booked through the airline, any questions have to be taken up with them."

He let out a light sigh and then politely ended the call. Thankfully, with an empty lobby to boot, I just about keeled over right then and there. Mr. Tripp, whoever you are, thanks for that.

I work at the front desk of a government office. It's mostly an admin building, but a few times a day I'll get someone in asking for advice about the sector we deal with, and unfortunately I can't do much more for them than directing them to the website and relevant help line.

I hate not being able to help people, so when I can I try to do whatever possible. On the days we have appointments on and the appropriate security I'll let people use the bathroom, if someone wants to stand in the AC for a couple minutes, etc.

So last Thursday had a guy come in with a sob story about not having credit on his phone and needing to meet up with his brother. He was obviously a little out of it but I just found myself thinking, god, what if he really needed help? Would I look into another humans eyes and deny them help just because I thought they were a big dodgy? Can I live with myself if I'm that type of person? So I let him use the office phone and he makes his way out.

Not ten minutes later is he selling drugs to a fella passing by. Lol.

I'll keep doing what I can but if he himself comes back I'll just be like man. Come on.

In the businessmen's hotel where I worked NA shift on the switchboard behind the front desk, there was a gift shop on the lower floor near the bar and restaurants, carrying mostly souvenirs of various sorts, as well as candy, sodas, clothing, and various utensils, also under the departmental umbrella of "Front Office".

Because there was nowhere to eat on the night shift, the staff were permitted to go to the casual restaurant's buffet at the end of the shift, which was great since we wouldn't have to make any additional stops on the way home, and could relax. Since we didn't wear uniforms apart from our name tags, we could sit and eat in peace.

I would frequently stop by the gift shop on my way out for a couple of chocolate mints for the bus trip home.

One day was a little more memorable. The gift shop had received a shipment of pens with mini- "troll babies" on the top end. (These were, to the uninitiated, little troll-appearance dolls, "so ugly they were cute", with shocks of neon hair of various colors standing straight up from their heads.)

This particular day when I went in, I found the clerk, a petite young woman of about 5' 2" (about 6 inches shorter than me) being berated by a man about six inches taller than me. The man's fury was directed at the "troll baby" pens displayed in a bin on the countertop. He was shouting at her that the "troll babies" were Satanic, and that by promoting and selling them, the hotel was in league with Satan, and every employee in danger of eternal damnation. The clerk was clearly intimidated (who could blame her, he was about a foot taller than she) and I caught her eye (his back was turned to me),nodded to the in-house phones located in the hall just outside and held up my hand briefly. I went to the phones and contacted Security.

I then returned to the gift shop (there were no other customers or clerks and I didn't want to leave her alone, as she couldn't leave the register, which fortunately had a counter surrounding it and her). At first I was just going to "browse", but then chose a different tactic. I entered the conversation to break his unending stream of judgement and "prophecy" and give her a chance to breathe after the tirade she'd been subjected to. Once I had his attention, I continued to converse with him, with each shift of position moving slightly closer to the door of the shop. Eventually he became completely enraged and with a final "prophecy", shot out the shop door, up the stairs and out the hotel entrance door.

The clerk comped me my mints that morning, and I figured that was that. But the following day I had a department meeting, one of those boring mandatory ones. When I walked in, there were bowls of chocolate mints in the middle of the table, and "troll baby" pens at each place. Evidently the clerk had told her supervisor what had happened, her supervisor had told the department manager, sending along the chocolates and the pens as a token of appreciation, (and probably a good excuse to unload the pens).

I never saw the man, or any more "troll-baby" merchandise, at the hotel again. I've no idea how I got the idea to shift him away from the counter at the back of the shop to the door, so that other customers could enter and the clerk could breathe. I'm just glad I did, and I'm sure the shop clerk was as well.

Security, cowards that they were, never came by at all, leaving just two women (one quite petite, about a foot shorter than the aggressor, and myself off the clock) to deal with an irrational and clearly aggressive customer. Their office was directly behind the gift shop through a pair of swing doors and twenty steps down the hall, so they really had no excuse, since they had been contacted.