A Taste of Normal

 Last night I worked as a valet. 

It was wonderful. 

After four months of being away, I felt like I was in a place I belonged. I knew what I was doing. I was relaxed and confident. I was content.

It's been four months since my heart attack, and I had eleven weeks off from work. I didn't go back to valet right away because the hotel was worried that if I lifted a suitcase I would die. My doctor had actually cleared me to work after seven weeks off, but the hotel didn't quite know what to do with me. Eventually we came to an agreement that I would work the night audit shift at the front desk.

I was not happy about going back to working nights. I had worked the overnight shift for thirteen years at this hotel, and before that, four years at another. When the pandemic began, the valet department had a six month vacation. When we came back, the overnight shift was dispensed with, and I was moved to the early morning shift, and then later, the mid shift during the week, and closing shift on the weekends. I liked the new schedule. I got to spend time with Gaby and with friends and family. I had time and daylight to work on projects. It was nice. 

The fellow they had (have) training me is Matt, and he's one of those people who is just good at everything, which kinda worries me. We had a fellow that was good at everything - EV ER Y THING -  a few years ago.by the name of Justin. I could say that Justin got burned out, but it would be more accurate to say that, because he was reliable and phenomenally skilled, the hotel actively burned him out. Justin had enough going on in his personal life and he didn't need to be treated like that. I liked Justin. A lot. I like Matt. A lot. I don't want to see the same thing happen to Matt.

Matt got a promotion, and is now one of our front office managers, which means he would be moving to daytime, so the race was on to get me trained. Problem is, I have no talent for computer stuff. I mean, if you show me which buttons I need to push, I can get the job done and eventually I will figure out what it all means, but you can't rush me. Matt began my training by teaching me how to do the audit. I took copious step-by-step notes, and referred to them constantly, adding to them as needed. At first the only part I was good at was the valet audit, which, y'know, of course, because I already understood it. Eventually I got to the point where all I needed was the checklist.

The deficiency in my training had to do with guest services. 

Now, I love working with the guests. I can eventually figure out the computer. But working with a guest AND a computer? That's a bad combination. There's a lot of pressure to do the job quickly and correctly. My GM asked me one morning how I was doing, and I expressed these fears. He said that the key was to act confidently like I knew what I was doing. My whole schtick has been to gain the sympathy of the guest by being the nervous new guy. 

They had scheduled me to work a couple of afternoon shifts in order to train me how to check in a guest, etc. Unfortunately, those two shifts happened to be on days when we had, like, twelve arrivals at 3:00 in the afternoon. Me being there was robbing the young ladies who were working that shift of the only thing they had to do all evening, so I got sent home early both times.

During one of those shifts, I was made an offer I couldn't refuse. If you've seen The Godfather, you know what I mean. The AFOM told me that the GM was asking about my intentions. I reiterated that valet was my first love, and that I was expecting to go back to it fully some time in early to mid summer. He didn't put it in so many words, but he basically told me that my return to valet was unlikely, and that if I didn't agree to stay on as night auditor, the hotel might not have a position for me at all. I told him that I was available to do whatever I was needed to do, but that night and the next day, the more I thought about it the more demoralized I became.  Still, as I told one of my other coworkers, it's only three years. I reach my 20 years, with all the lifetime benefits, two days before I reach retirement age. I can hang on till then.

Eventually, Matt left me. I was supposed to start flying solo on the 22nd of March (Friday!?! Are you freakin' serious?!), but Matt stayed that night just to make sure I didn't get overwhelmed. The following Wednesday I really was alone.

Once upon a time, it was normal to have two or three people working the front desk overnight, especially on the weekends. New management has decided that that is unnecessary, which Matt has accurately described as "bullshit." My first week (my permanent schedule is Wednesday through Friday, 10pm to 8am) went okay. I figured out a system for making sure I got everything done, and knew what to talk to the FOM about in the morning after she and the rest of the morning crew arrive an hour late. I might have given away some free rooms, but nobody complained. But this week has been rough, and not just for me. My counterpart, Sheila, had such a bad time Saturday night that Matt, who has been sick the last few days, was worried that she would not come in last night and he'd have to work a double.

And Sheila knows what she's doing. Me? I'm on the phone with a woman I can't hear because a) it's a bad connection, and b) the music in the bar and the crowd in the lobby is too loud, and she's wanting to know if I can get her into two rooms on a particular date that the app has already told her is not available. I don't know how to do that. This while I've got two parties trying to check in, and I need to move a VIP out of a room where someone has been smoking without him being charged extra for the upgrade. Who knew that the audit would be the easy part.

I should have just transferred her to reservations. Hindsight.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
I've been going to a cardio rehab class for the last couple of months. It's basically a gym class where they monitor your blood pressure and teach you to exercise for your heart health. I graduated last Monday. That made me available for a mid or evening shift in valet, aside from my duties at the front desk. I had been discussing my return with my bell captain, and we decided on Sunday night as a good night for me. It's not terribly busy, so I don't have to exert myself too much right away, and nobody else on staff is going to miss working that night.

Last night I got to visit with guests as they came in. I didn't have to use a computer. I made a little bit of money. And as a bonus, the weather was wonderful. I was very happy.

Sunday nights are going to be my island of sanity in a world of chaos.