Over the years I've had a few people question the validity of the work-related stories I have told. People figure that one job cannot simply produce all the mayhem that I've endured- and I used to think it was just the Hammond cluster that was subjected to this ridiculousness and have recently realized- it must be me.
I've been working with WLS for a little over 6 years now and held a management position for 2 1/2 of those so I've had my fair share of events. Yes I've evacuated from a flood, multiple fires, a few too many ambulance calls, too many power outages, and my fair share of "hey security? I have some hookers in the lobby..."
I guess God didnt want me to get rusty at my new property so he went full force on me on my second day of work, but my first day alone.
My shift started at 7am and I'm immedately thrown on the front desk. Thank GOD that this is a pretty awesome comfort zone for me. I have NO problem making/taking/breaking reservations, answering phones (although I know I said Hammond a few times by mistake) and handling various customers. The only tricky part is... i dont know where everything actually IS. All in all no big deal.
7:15am I look over and realize that there is icecream dripping out of the fridge in the gift shop and everything is DARK. Great! I figure hey-- no problem it's probably just a breaker that popped. Problem- where the hell is the breaker for it? CRAAAP! So I call my hero Herman in maintainence and he quickly resolves issues number one. Unfortunately for us during all this Becky my cafe supervisor comes over to tell me that the freezer unit we JUST had fixed is now holding temp at 70 degrees. Not so hot (err cold) for a freezer. So we scurry to call Rent a Center to get back the one we had the previous week and move all the product to the other freezer before we lose temp and we have to throw it out.
7:30 ish I start getting the housekeeping assignments for the day and realize that with the impromptu group of Nipsco guys (30 rooms for 3 nights!) that came in unexpectedly last night I'm already understaffed by 1 person when I get a call off from one of my housekeepers. Bummer. I am now down 2.
7:40ish I get a call from the laundry attendant stating that a belt broke on our industrial size dryer. Fantastic. Herman gets called to the rescue again.
Meanwhile I get a power outage flicker that was not devastating but just enough to make it neccessary to reboot my entire computer system and set me back on RE-making the housekeeping assignments after the call off. During this reboot I decide it's probably best to give my GM a heads up on the mornings activities. She of course is fantastic and says that she'll come in and help clean rooms (what a saint!) but we decide to see if we can call anyone in from another hotel first.
Multiple phone calls later there is NO one that will come in to help us and my my phone rings with oh yes, the SECOND housekeeper calling off. What does this mean?! This means that I am now down THREE people and my poor 7 month pregnant housekeeper who WAS scheduled to inspect will now have to clean rooms and I will have to inspect after my desk shift.
FML. A couple more power flickers later and I can inspect a ton of rooms and go home.
What awaited me the next day?! Oh yes, two more housekeepers called off so my GM and I got to clean a board of 12 rooms.
Not bad for my first day alone.. besides it was just another day in the life of a Hotel Manager..
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