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Sunday funny Sunday

We do not serve beer on Sundays.  Happy hour is only Monday through Thursday.  

But considering there was a Pens game, a Pitt men's basketball game and we are booked up for a funeral, I figured everyone should drink as much beer as they want.  

The laws in Pennsylvania make it almost impossible for travellers to buy their own refreshments, anyway.  I am constantly asked by out-of-state guests why they can not buy beer at gas stations.  Sending them to the beer distributor often confuses them, too.

In Pennsylvania, you have to buy beer by the case.  Six packs can only be sold at bars.  

So, I felt generous and set the keg out when I got to work.

What ensued was truly funny.  A mini-wake broke out around the keg.  

Hearing the funny stories of the family that had just lost their loved one put the loss by the Pens in perspective.  

And, they reminded me of my family.  They were clearly missing their younger brother that they lost suddenly, but they made each other laugh with all the funny stories of their shared youth.  My family has the same tendency to come together and make each other laugh even at the saddest times.

I am glad that they could find some comfort with the beer and their stories, all in the hotel lobby. And, I am glad I was here.

This post is more serious

I was off today.  But I have become friends with the co-worker who was hired to work the shifts that I cannot.

Two weeks ago, she called me in a panic.  She was reading the Post-Gazette and read about murder suspects who were on the run.  She thought she recognized the names, so she went online to look at the mug shots.  

They were here.  And she was scared.  I do not blame her.  She has a young child, and when you work the 3-11 shift you are the only person here.  She called the homicide line listed in the paper at 3 p.m.  and they took the information and never called her back.  

All the while, the suspects are upstairs.  

She then called me about 5 hours later and let me know what was going on.  I came to the hotel as quickly as I could.  I could not believe that the Pittsburgh Police Homicide Unit had not responded, yet.  

It actually took me calling a friend who is a police officer in the town the hotel is located in, and him calling it in for them to respond.  When they came they came with full force.  Uniformed, undercover, all with guns drawn when they approached the room.

Now, we have to save every record, and all our video recordings from that time period.  And my co-worker is afraid to work by herself in fear of retribution.  She thinks it is crazy that it takes that long for alleged wanted murders to be apprehended.  She had to have called the police 4 times in 3 hours.  

Wow

We have a cancellation policy and a strict customer satisfaction policy.  

These two things sometimes conflict each other.  Front desk agents are not allowed to cancel reservations after the 24 hour in advance deadline has expired.  I can, but I am only to do it at my discretion.  If a corporate cousin hotel calls, and you are in their lobby because you made a mistake, I can usually help you out.

But if you arrive, and just decide you do not want to stay and have no good reason, you will be charged.  I don't like to do it, but I do like to get paid.  So I have to follow the rules.

Which brings me to tonight.  

Two employees of a company I won't name, but I know Point Park and other college students who eat on campus are well aware of, checked in tonight.  They had reservations, made well in advance.

These women were rude to begin with, even though I went out of my way to find them a Thai restaurant. I overheard them saying that their travel budget had been cut, and they were not happy they were in the suburbs before I even checked them in.

Well, a half hour after checking them in, they come down and tell me they are checking out.  I cannot do that.  It is not allowed.  You can think of various reasons why any hotel will not simply check you out without charge after spending 30 minutes in a room.

These "ladies" were the worst customers I have ever had, however, and refused any attempt to correct the "problems" they had.  I say "problems" because they had no specific issues I could correct, they just said "we refuse to stay here."  All peppered with curse words and threats.  

I eventually told them they had to leave, or they would be escorted away, by the police.  They told me to please call the cops, so they could show the police how disgusting the hotel was.  When I let them know that the police stay here, they finally left.

I hope they found a place to stay, and never come back.  

Physics and beer

The hotel has been crazy due to the APS Physics convention in Downtown Pittsburgh. 7,000 physicists have descended on Pittsburgh and enough of them have found their way to my hotel to sell it out.  

When I think of physicists, I think of lab coats.  

But these physicists have been ready to party.

The only time we have gone through more beer, in the time that I have worked here, was during the U.S. Open a couple of years ago.  

This is also the first time I have had to call this many cabs to get guests to strip clubs.

Unfortunately, not a lot of the guest spoke English as a first language.  I am sure if I could have understood any of them, I would have great stories to share.  But I did learn that science must not be as boring as I thought.