Hotel kindness in a crazy sort of way

My career is in hospitality. That doesn't mean I am hospitable, it just means I work in that industry. We hoteliers have many moments of inhospitable angst, mainly behind the scenes. Sometimes it's right on center stage, in front of everyone, but we try and keep it (the inhospitable angst) under wraps, away from the eyes of the guests.

Being nice and friendly when you want to poke someone in the eye with a fork is a talent and I am very, very good at it. If there was a talent show for this kind of manipulative lying, I would win first place.  Unlike others in this profession, I am not chirpy and cheery all the time, not really a "people-person" (an incredibly annoying term, I must say) or even a nice person all of the time.  Sullen might be taking it too far but reserved and quiet would be an appropriate description.  So would "shooting darts out of my eyes at your face" if that could be considered a description.

Case in point: yesterday there was no power at the hotel were I am employed.  The power outage was throughout the neighborhood, not just in the hotel, so it was 100% out of our control.  That's a good thing because then guests can't blame us for no hot water or for the lack of toast. It was a random act of energy, not a plot against anyone.  I was almost perversely delighted in the discomfort it gave some guests. Some took it personally and their momentary lack of hot water ruined their otherwise perfect weekend.  HA!  "Too bad!" I thought, ruthlessly.  I wanted to say something like "You know, a huge part of the world's population doesn't even have cold water, let alone hot water at the turn of a tap."  But I didn't say that because I didn't want to deal with the retort, which would have been "Yes, but the rest of the world isn't paying $300 a night to sleep here, is it?"  That kind of sentence deserves not to be spoken, and it warrants no response.

But, hospitable or not, I am very good at my job and I make people happy and I make them smile and I help them make the most out of their visit to the Wine Country.  I get them free wine tastings, difficult to obtain restaurant reservations, good tour guides. I make them espressos and pour them wine and clear their tables and help them pay bridge tolls online and print out their boarding passes when they leave.  I am their helper, their concierge. I am the front desk manager.

The fact that I can still entertain ideas of poking some of them in the face with a fork is simply a perk of the job.

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