Valet Welfare

One of the reasons that I'm glad I work alone is that I don't have to deal much with the politics of working with someone else.

There is a guest who stays at our hotel frequently, Mr. MK, who is a generous tipper. He usually tips the valet $100 on the way in, and again on the way out. This has created some conflict among some of the valets, because greed has gotten in the way of teamwork. This is a bad thing, because, as my boss has pointed out, if Mr. MK ever gets wind of this, the big tips will probably stop. In fact, he may take his business elsewhere.

Last night, Mr. MK and his party arrived in two trucks, he and his friend in the monster pick-up, the ladies he picked up at a bar in the SUV. The ladies arrived first. I was returning from the garage when I saw the pick-up pull in. When I got outside, the last remaining afternoon valet, JY, was writing him a valet ticket. "Did you guys take care of my ladies?" MK asked.
"I did," I responded.
Mr. MK handed John a $100 bill, and went to join the ladies in our bar. JY went inside, clocked out and went home. This hardly seemed fair to me, but I didn't say anything. The ladies left about three hours later, and still I got no tip. And I had all night to think about it.

The morning valets arrived just before 7:00am, and when KE came into the office, he found me finishing up my clerical work. "I'm taking MK this morning." I said. I explained what had happened last night, and that Mr. MK had requested the truck at 8:00.
"You ought to go ahead and pull it around now before Bossman gets here, so he won't gripe about us splitting it," KE said. I hadn't realized that Bossman was going to be there. To me it was good news. But now we've arrived at the crux of the problem.

We have two valets with a reputation for greediness: KE and RB. It all started the day that KE came in to work early, got Mr. MK's keys, and pulled the truck around two hours before Mr. MK would be leaving. When RB asked about it, KE said that Mr. KE had requested that the truck be out there that early. Relentless interogation by RB forced KE into a deal where they would split the tip if RB got Mr. MK's luggage. But while RB was upstairs, he asked Mr. MK about the truck, and the lie was now exposed.

Over the next few weeks, deciet and dirty tricks ruled, until finally they came to an agreement. They would split the MK tip among all the valets working at whatever time Mr. MK left (usually a four way split.) Sort of a Valet Welfare system. The wrench in the works was Dane, who had originally taken care of Mr. MK, and considered him to be his own guest. (KE also has a pet guest.) Management intervened, and Dane now has dibs whenever he happens to be working on a morning when Mr. MK is staying with us.

KE came back to the office to tell me that another valet had just arrived, and I needed to move the truck now. Then he stood there a while and watched me ignore him. After he left, and I had finished my task, I went out and found that Bossman had arrived. I took him aside, and and explained the situation to him, including the part about KE expecting me to participate in the welfare plan. I had no intention of doing so, of course. I mean, I understand its purpose, but it's just stupid.

He pointed out that just as JY had stayed late and snatched my tip, now I was doing it to someone else. He also scolded me for not having said something to JY. But he understood where I was coming from, that I wouldn't even be there if I'd been treated fairly to begin with, and therefore he allowed it.
I felt sorry for him later. KE was mad, and he explained the whole welfare plan to Bossman in heated tones while I eavesdropped from behind a column. To him, giving up the major portion of one's money to those who had done nothing to earn it was only fair, and I was being greedy.

When KE had gone to get a car, I outlined my work philosophy to Bossman:
Do your job.
Do it well.
Work as a team.
If there are rewards involved, don't begrudge your teammates their reward.

With that in mind, Mr. MK should be placed in the rotation just like every other guest. Outside of Dane's priveledges, it's luck of the draw that determines who gets him. Period.

While we were still discussing this, Mr. MK and his friend came out. I pocketed my $100 and went home.