Tuesday, January 15, 2008

My Old Kentucky Temporary Home

As Willie Nelson once sang, I'm "On the Road Again!" Yep, here I sit in my Louisville, Kentucky hotel room. It's bitter cold outside so I won't be going anywhere this evening -- not that I have anywhere to go anyway. I was rummaging through my daily round of blogs when I realized that I haven't written anything in almost a week. I guess all that pissed-offedness about this steroid stuff just left me speechless. Alas, speechlessness won't last long ... with me, it never does.

The flight down here was pretty uneventful (that's a good thing), and I had the rare flight attendant who must be an aspiring comedienne. Usually you get the regular ole flying waitress who says the scripted stuff then never says another word until they ask what you want to drink. The comedians are not quite as common, but once in a while you find one who makes a valiant effort to ad lib the script and hopefully make everyone on the plane laugh. I have to admire the attempt to make a joke out of "If the cabin pressure drops, an oxygen mask will be released from the overhead compartment .... blah blah blah." I don't know how they do it, but it usually works. Amazing since there's so very little that's laughable about sitting on a plane, strapped into a seat, waiting to take off, while listening to someone tell you what to do in the event of a crash. Comic relief is pretty powerful and most people laugh -- even me. Hell, anything could probably make me laugh at that point, maybe even Robin Williams. Nah, I take that back .. probably not .... not unless he was dressed like Mork. Anyway, at first I was a little annoyed by the joke telling while I was trying to read my book, but then I just stopped and listened. Even though she wasn't too funny, I had to give her some props for trying to make things better for us. The least I could do was indulge her effort by listening for a few minutes ... and so I did.

It's ashame there aren't more people working in service industries who act like they enjoy their job and their customers. Yeah, they're out there but they are clearly in the minority. Most are not necessarily rude, but they act robotic and completely indifferent to customer satisfaction. It's an attitude of, "I don't care whether I knock your socks off or not, as long as I get paid." Wow, nice attitude.

Tonight when I was walking into hotel, the bellman greeted me as he opened the door: "Hello Miz L., welcome back. Have a good night." Ahhhhh .... simple, yet nice. Had he said something like "I hate this job in the winter ... cold weather sucks", I probably would have been thinking "Stop bitching and open the door for me."

Then I ordered room service. The same guy has been delivering the room service dinners since I started coming here almost 8 years ago. Maybe he doesn't remember that I've been coming here that long .... maybe he doesn't remember seeing me for any of the 9 nights I've stayed in this hotel out of the last 30 days .... maybe he doesn't remember bringing me dinner in this same room last night. There is not one single glimmer of recognition on this man's face. You know, if I were him I'd be embarrassed. Tonight and from now on he only gets the gratuity the hotel adds to the check -- if he can't remember me, I can't remember to tip extra. In fact, I'll save it for the bellman! So there!!!

As I continue to sit here in my Louisville, Kentucky hotel room I'm reminded of yet another song -- this time, a little diddy from Meatloaf: "Two Outta Three Ain't Bad."

On that note (haha), I think I've come full circle -- I began with a song and am ending with a song. Hope this finds you warm and well. Am very much looking forward to coming home later this week!

5 comments:

Los said...

Actually, Robin Williams' stand-up comedy is pretty good ... at least I think so. Sure, he can go overboard at times.

I think the people who truly take pride in what they do are the ones who will be successful (except the ones who get in because they know somebody at the top).

Amber said...

Hey girlie! I agree about the whole pride in work thing. It really does seem like more and more people don't care about the small things. Big D and I went to our favorite restaurant not to long ago and we had a repeat waitress. She remembered what we ordered last time and all of my little "on the side" quirks. Let me tell you, she got a very nice tip out of us. I think it is important we recognize people when they go the extra mile...even if it is part of their job.

Anonymous said...

Up here in the frozen tundra called "Canada", we have an airline called
Westjet that is owned by its employees. They are,without fail, funny and charming. One night flying home, one of their flight attendants who wasn't on duty serenaded us all with her flute. Quite possibly one of the most surreal and beautiful airline experiences I've ever had. Bless the people who love what they do.

Nature Girl said...

Yikes..hotel living is boring enough as it is, but if someone can't be bothered to look up from his tray for two minutes to acknowledge someone he's been serving off and on for 8 years then he doesn't deserve the tip! I've been on a couple of those flights where the fligh attendants are hilarious...it makes the trip much more fun and I always ask DH when we have to go somewhere if he'll use that airline again because it was that much more pleasant...

Thanks so much for the kind words, advice and encouragement on my blog. I appreciated everything you have to say. I will for sure have more to talk about with my Dr. I didn't bring up any of those things at my appointment yesterday as it wasn't a real Dr and she would have directed me to ask them next week anyway...hopefully I'll get to the bottom of this all very soon...
Stacie

Lisa said...

Los -- I do actually like some of his non-comedy movie roles, but you know I'm just not into stand-up. I prefer the oldies ... like the old Eddie Murphy, Carlin, etc. Personally, I think you're way more talented in Robin Williams.

Scarlett -- Remembering the 'on the sides' is pretty impressive! Maybe worthy of a big tip AND a round of applause.

Baronness -- Never heard of that airline, but will certainly tuck that advice in the back of my head for future travels.

Stacie -- Thanks for stopping by!