The Hospitality Industry?

Last Saturday I was sitting around the house and reminiscing about old times. Some years back I use to live in Winston-Salem, NC, and at that time worked at a Hampton Inn. First as a desk clerk, then night auditor and eventually I made it up to the position of Assistant General Manager. At the time I was trying to find my niche in the hospitality industry, and had hopes of going far in my career. I was in my early 20’s and was already the #2 man on the property. My tenure there, however, wasn’t everything it was cracked up to be.

During that two year period, I was working 70+ hour weeks and since I was salary and not hourly, I didn’t get overtime, so my pay was very little. Also one Sunday evening, as I sat behind the desk alone, a man came in. As I stood up to offer assistance, he said he only needed to use the bathroom, so I sat back down. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see him coming up behind me so I stood back up. I remember his exact words of, “This is a robbery, give me the money!” My initial thought was that I was bigger than he was, but then I looked down to see a very large hunting knife in his right hand with it pointing at me. I turned around, opened up the money drawer, and handed him all of the cash. I asked him if he wanted the change too, and he responded, “Only the green!” Upon completion of the deed, he ran out of the lobby shouting, “Don’t call the police!”

I wasn’t so much scared as I was angry. Angry that some son-of-a-bitch robbed me! Angry that I wasn’t able to stop him! Angry that I felt vulnerable and alone! So I punched the wall before calling my manager and the police.

That night I went to the police station and thumbed through several stacks of mug shots. There were hundreds of them, and they all started looking alike. I do remember that he looked like a guy that use to work at the hotel, and that would make sense in knowing when the least amount of people were working, and only 30 minutes before security showed up, but I wasn’t totally 100% sure and didn’t want to accuse the wrong person, so I said nothing to that effect. This crime went unsolved.

Within a year I was fired from that job. Not for theft or underperformance, but because I had been hospitalized for a week and tried to file it on my medical insurance. Once I had been promoted to Assistant General Manager, the owner of the hotel said I was added to the company’s group medical insurance policy. This was a lie, and it all came out when the hospital tried to collect. I know there are laws against this type of behavior, and I did seek the assistance of an attorney, but knowing and proving are two separate things.

My ordeal convinced me that I was done with the hospitality industry, so I moved back to Asheville and went back to college.