“Bite your tongue, Woman!”

CROSS POSTED:

Ah work. Good ole work. The thing that keeps my family in cell phones. And cable/internet. And The Child in karate/Girl Scouts/Band. And food in our bellies. Can’t forget the food.
 
I so love my job. I really and truly do. It is an easy job. I have more down time than work time in an 8 hour stretch. I meet all kinds of people. Some fun, some not so fun. I work with some "interesting" characters to say the least. But over all, I love my job.
 
As most know, I am OCD. I have numerous "issues" that are part, and because of, the OCD. The main issues being that I am organized, and I am a clean/neat freak. Without those 2 main components in place, I am a frazzled mess. I’m also a bit of a whiner when it comes to organization and cleanliness/neatness. If those 2 factors are not in place when I come on to shift, I am a grumpy, whiny, hot mess and I will have no problem complaining about it. 
 
When I come on to shift, the first things I look at (since I have to pass by them on my way to behind the counter) is the floors, the eating area, the coffee area, the front counter. I cringe when I see sugar crumbs/creamer drips on the black granite. It’s like fingernails down a chalkboard when chairs are not pushed in. I have been known to let out an aggravated sigh upon noticing mud clumps on the floors and dirty finger prints/smears on the front counter black granite surface.
 
If any of those areas are not to *my* liking, I will immediately look at the occupancy board. That will inform me of just how busy the previous shift was. If they were busy with check-ins/phone calls, I usually just keep my mouth shut because I understand first hand how difficult it can be to stay on top of cleaning when it is busy. I’ve had a night or 2 that every time I tried to go clean the lobby, the phone would start ringing or a guest would come in, etc so I don’t push the issue with co-worker’s when they have been busy.
 
However … 
 
I will ask you in a heartbeat why things aren’t clean if I know you weren’t busy. Plain and simple, I will call your ass out on it. Mainly because A) It is part of our job duties during a shift B) I get paid the same hourly wage as they do and if I can get the job done, then so can they C) I’m not getting paid extra to do your damn job for you because you were #1 – too damn lazy to do it yourself #2 – you couldn’t pull yourself away from Facebook/YouTube/your cell phone long enough to do it #3 – you just simply forgot. They always come onto shift with a clean environment, I expect no less.
 
Rachel, the manager, is the only one I know I can come onto shift behind and everything will be cleaned as it should. Because she is just as OCD as I am LOL. 
 
Then there is this other "issue" I have – attention to details. Rachel wants us to do things a certain way and has trained us to do it her way. Works for me. Occasionally, minor details will be forgotten, especially when in a rush. More than one will cause a domino effect though. Although, the details that are forgotten are easily fixed, it’s the hassle of having to go back behind everyone to fix the details to get the ship working in tip top condition again. And every detail needs to be in place in order to have a successful night audit shift. So when I work audit shift, the first hour is spent going back behind the day’s workers to make sure every detail is in place so that *I* can do my job. If my job is not done to perfection, the domino effect will screw up 1st shift and the housekeeping shift. So to keep from getting my ass chewed out for not having done my job correctly, I’m gonna go behind you and do your job the way you should have done so to begin with. But I WILL make you miserable in the process. And no, I am not below taking pictures as proof. I am, and have always been, about the CYA – Cover Your Ass. And if you are tired of listening to me complain over stupid, silly stuff (like cleaning) then just do the (YOUR) damn job to shut me up. It really is that simple.
 
Unless, of course, you are Rachel – the manager … then I just keep my mouth shut period and fix your mistakes quietly. Because at the end of the day it will be her word against mine, and I am more easily replaced. See, I do know my place on the peon ladder. Doesn’t mean I won’t think the thoughts but I won’t voice them either. But seriously, why say you checked a room, put it in the computer as clean (the computer automatically lists it as dirty at checkout so *someone* has to go in and manually change each room to clean) when in actuality, you didn’t do any of the above. If you had, we wouldn’t have to be switching new check-ins to a different room because they immediately come back down to the desk asking for a clean room. We wouldn’t be the ones having to deal with the embarrassment. 
 
Anyway, my "attention to detail" mentality has it’s perks. I get nothing but compliments from the guests. I even get requests – to management – to work more shifts so the guests can interact with me more. I can now add "Trainer" to my list of qualifications. Because both Rachel and Joleen (owner Bill’s Mom who lives on property) have determined that I am the best Woman for the job. At first I just kinda cocked an eyebrow up at Rachel and said, "More like the blind leading the blind." Because, I’ve only been there 2 months and I’m still learning as I go lol. But hey, I can’t complain because it’s a job. Well, yes, I can complain because when I can only sit there and make the trainee do all the work, it makes a long, long audit shift go even longer. But I have a job.
 
So here I was this past Thursday morning, struggling to get through the last 40 minutes of my shift. Joleen had come down a few minutes early to talk with the new girl I was training. Then Joloeen asks if I have had a smoke break. She knows I already have at this point lol but that was her *code talk* for me to come outside so she could talk privately with me. So out the door I go, even though I know she is only going to be bitching about something Rachel did or didn’t do. Honestly, I am so over hearing about it. But people need to vent otherwise it just turns them into bitter people and I’d hate to see that happen to Joleen.
 
So off she goes on her little tirade about Rachel. Then she finally winds down. And then, out of left field, she smacks me up side the head with, "I wish you were the manager. Things would run a lot more smoothly around here." I was just flabbergasted! I mean, how the hell does one respond to that?!?! The only thing I could manage to get out of my mouth was, "Bite your tongue, Woman!" She just kinda looked at me funny and said, "What? You wouldn’t want to be manager?" I think I may have snorted at this point and then said, "No. Thanks for the vote of confidence in my abilities, but no thank you. No way, no how, uh-uh." So then I went on to explain to her that family mattered too much to me and that The Child had just spent the first 10 years of her life with Hubby deployingand missing out on important stuff so there was no way I would turn around and do that to her now. Especially when she is fixing to hit the stage of her life that she will need my influence more than ever. I’m not about to abandon my child for a job and leave her to flounder around, trying to make sense of puberty and peer pressure all on her own. Besides, there was not enough money to tempt me into moving into the small ass apartment in the hotel that we’d have to live in if I were manager. I could just go on and on about the "No!!!" ‘s but you get the idea. 
 
Yes, it makes me feel accomplished that I am thought of highly enough as manager material. But nope. I prefer to be just a little peon, able to go home at the end of each shift. I just hope and pray she is not planting seeds in Bill’s ear about me. I love you Joleen but … no … just no.
 
Speaking of Bill (the owner) … he came in Sunday morning to do a couple of odds and ends around the hotel (gotta hate brand new buildings and crappy construction crews). He was on one of the computers at the front desk so I just *casually* mention to him to never offer me a "bonus" again because my blood pressure can’t handle the stress of it. He tilted his head to the side while looking at me and said, "Why? You earned the $100. I don’t have it on me right now but I  promise I will get it to you." So of course, all I could reply with was, "Oh.  …  …  …  Seriously?" lol I love that I can be so relaxed with him being the owner and all lol. So, apparently I *HAVE* won the $100 bonus. I just haven’t received it yet lol nor do I know when I will actually have it in my hands.
 
I have a funny story about a group of our guests that I want to share. But they will require their own entry. So I will save that for another day.
 
Till next time … 

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