Namaste, Bitches

My major problem w/being a desk clerk one measly night a week is this: People who check in & out from the Excalibur are basically stupid. I don't know if maybe it's because I'm some sort of ultra-competent freak of nature or what, but I keep finding myself wanting to ask these people "Have you ever stayed at a hotel before?"
I really wonder sometimes. I mean, maybe I'm just one up on everyone else because my dad was a truck driver & for the first 10 years of my life every summer was spent traveling cross-country & spending many a night in hotels. Big ones, small ones, mildly fancy ones, dirty ones...
"Do you have a reservation?" is a yes or no question.

"What's your last name?" When asked by a doctor or social worker or even a reservation clerk, what your last name is, do you tell people your social security number or start spelling randomly to them? No, you tell them your last name. However, when I ask this, I get "XX2GB" or "S-M-I-T-H" instead. "Um, sir, would that be SMITH?" Last night I guess I looked either dumb or deaf because everyone was spelling everything at me. It wasn't even loud in the casino. Pretty soon I started humming the Sesame Street themesong as I typed up their information, one letter at a time.

"I need to see your photo ID." If I really didn't need to see it, I wouldn't bother asking. "Why do you need my ID?" "Well, we just need to verify that we're checking the right person into the right reservation." "Why?" "So we don't have 4000 rooms full of people who don't belong in the hotel while 4000 people w/reservations stand around looking stupid in the lobby, why else?" Last night a man tried to check into a reservation that wasn't in his name. He provided us w/the reservation-maker's credit card. He didn't seem to understand that for him to attempt to use her credit card is called fraud, and it's illegal. (My next guest thanked me for looking at his signature on his ID & comparing it to the one on his credit card. Wonders will never cease.)

"Cash or credit card?" This question only has one of three possible answers - cash, credit card, or partially cash, partially credit card. I get blank stares. It's been a really long time since you could check into a hotel & pay at the end of your stay. At least 50 years or so, maybe more. I say, "So I need to collect $111.90 from you now." I get a blank stare. "M'am, that will be $111.90." Blank stare. "M'am, I need to get $111 dollars & 90¢ from you right now." Reply, finally, "Oh, do I need to pay now?" Aaaarrgfggfgfgfgfghf.

If your room sucks, say something when you check in, not after you've been in it for a week. Don't get pissed at us for not offering compensation because you couldn't bother to ask for a different room or a comp or something the second that you realized it sucked. I get the feeling that people start looking for ways to get money back on their rooms when it's the end of their vacation & they realize they've gambled away their gas money or next month's mortgage payment.

Lying to front desk clerks, housekeepers, managers, supervisors, valet attendants, bellmen, etc & so forth, will still earn you bad Karma. And we know you're lying and we talk shit about you the second the door closes behind you.

Anyway... I've been punishing myself lately by visiting the Pagan message boards on AOL. I just feel the need every once in awhile to see how the other half lives. People who are staunch defenders of conjectures, theories & opinions. Woe betide the one who goes against the generally accepted opinion or attitude.
If you name a message board or chat room "Ask a Witch" and someone asks a fairly basic question, don't get offended, high handed or pissed. You asked them to "Ask a Witch". Obviously this person desires information. Be polite, answer the question in your own special way & bitch about them behind their back. Don't flame them. A lot of people want spells, and I, for my own moral reasons, don't do spells. But I know spells. If I know an appropriate spell and even if I get that "mostly harmless" feeling I don't tell people how to do spells. But I also don't bust their balls for asking in the first place. I also don't preach to them about why asking in the first place is wrong. If I'm on a board or in a chat room called "Ask a Witch" I should be expecting someone to ask me something. Once again, I feel like I'm the Common-Sense-Superwoman.
I also read back posts to see what the general mood of a board is, I feel it's polite, and the same 5 or 6 people seem to dominate some boards & are usually the same 5 or 6 people who feel it is their duty to slam newcomers into the dirt for daring to step onto their territory. I'm like, I don't give a shit who you are, if I am looking for information, you patronize me & I call you on it, go ahead & get offended all you want. You aren't scaring me away and I'll hang around just to prove that point. And if I feel I have something valid to add to a discussion about a topic I find interesting, I'll post it. So there.

Other than that, my other half is putting in some applications today. I've got a comped dinner for "Sir Galahad's Pub & Steakhouse." I just hope there's something on the menu Rob can deal with, because I'm having lobster. :)) The electric company sent me my deposit back after charging me a transfer fee when we moved. I don't understand why they don't just apply it to the bill as that's what I used the check for, but I guess some people like getting $$$ in the mail from their utility companies.
Another boring weekend. Lucky me!!!