Thick?
Housebound or sheltered-in-place has been happening in Ohio since March. My company banned travel for those of us who crisscross the U.S. as part of the normal job function, which I greatly appreciated. They are great about safety. Needless to say, this also means most road-warriors have not been staying in hotels, either.
This past week, I had to travel for the first time in months. I did all the regular things. Corporate booked my hotel, I packed, filled up my car with gas and headed out. Traverse City is beautiful. I rolled into town, feeling pretty good. That was late on Wednesday. It’s now Saturday.
Thick?
It never occurred to me that services at a hotel would not happen. The work schedule I have been on is so crazy, it truly didn’t dawn on me that no one has touched my room in 4 days. I came back from work this afternoon and was beat. Still no service. It’s starting to piss me off.
Now, before the eye-rolling and the snarky comments, let me just say that I am a very neat person. I usually clean everywhere I go, in addition to whatever services are offered. So, I am not complaining because I am lazy or entitled, just tired and would like a clean wash rag.
I went to the front desk and very nicely asked if they remembered that I was staying there. The clerk looked at me quizzically. I lifted my right arm, holding a self-collected bag of trash (neatly tied, by the way). I just looked at her. The light bulb went off and she said, “Didn’t they tell you when you checked in?”
“Tell me what?”, I asked.
“That there are no services during COVID”, she said.
“None?!” I said.
“None”, she replied. “If you need anything you come up here and ask. We will provide the clean towels, rags, linens, liners, and condiments to you, and you do your own room.” She added, “We don’t handle your soiled linens either. You have to knock on the service door, and we will roll out a barrel for you to place them. Or, you can do laundry yourself in our second-floor guest laundry room.”
She asked me, “Didn’t you notice that the normal complimentary breakfast is closed?”
Christ!, I thought. I leave at 5AM and that’s always too early for hotel breakfasts to be open, so it never registered.
You know, sometimes I am just thick.
Of course, there are no services. What was I expecting? We’re in a pandemic. It was the act of going back to work, which made me temporarily forget that things still aren’t normal.
I just kind of stood there. Dumbfounded. I looked at my right arm’s haul and looked at her. “Where’s the dumpster, then?” She told me and I dumped my bag. I went to my room and took stock. How much toilet paper do I have? What about Kleenex? Are there spare trash liners in the bins? Do I need to vacuum? After figuring out my list, I meandered back to the front and asked for new stuff. I went to the store and bought gloves, laundry soap, and cleaner, because God knows when the room was last cleaned. I started in. I scrubbed and changed the bed. Gathered towels and rags to take to the barrel. Wiped all the surfaces and yada, yada, yada. You get my drift.
I finish my room and walk out of my door, gloves on and cleaner in my hand, to go upstairs and clean the laundry room so I can do my laundry. A couple sees me and waves me down. I stop and smile. The woman starts telling me that she needs her room done next. They were leaving for a while, “so now would be a good time to do it.”
Again, with the thickness…
It dawns on me that she thinks I am the housekeeper. Now, I am not sure what look was on my face but she stopped talking. I asked her if they told her at the counter there were no services? She said they did. Suddenly, it dawns on her that I am not the staff. She apologized and said when she saw me with cleaning stuff and PPE’d out, she thought the rules had changed.
Not to be “out-thicked” by her momentary lapse, I quickly asked her how much she’d pay me to do her room? Since I am paying the hotel to stay there, AND clean my own room, AND go find my own food, I might as well make some money off this deal.
Hmm, maybe not so thick after all…
