I was really afraid that someone would say this.
No one is more defensive about their job performance than teachers, I’m afraid.
Thought I’d chime in here as the parent of an adult music major (oboe player and teacher). When she was a child and teenager, I never once had to nag her to practice - or even encourage her to do so. She found her passion for music at about age 9 and never wavered.
Having a title of bank vice-president generally doesn’t mean shit.
Great thread, by the way.
Oh OK, thanks!
Biggest rule: be nice to the person deciding where you’ll sleep tonight. She can upgrade you to a suite, maybe, or make sure you’re in the big corner room, or the freshly-remodeled room. Or not.
If your payment card declined, it’s often a fraud alert at your bank - say, several purchases at restaurants, gas stations, and a hotel in multiple states, because you’re taking the family to Disney. The desk clerk can’t fix it. You have to contact your bank. No one is trying to insult you.
As a former night auditor, though? There were plenty of nights when I totally sat on my ass all night. Unless someone mis-entered a debit or credit or miscounted their cash, the paperwork was 15 minutes, max*. Answer a couple of phone calls, set wakeup calls. And usually not many check-ins after I arrived at 11. I played a lot of games and watched hours of Lockup on MSNBC.
Current profession: Everybody lies.
(I’m a mom. Nobody ate the leftovers I planned for dinner. Nobody trimmed her bangs. Nobody left the open box of crackers where the puppy could reach them. No one threw the first hand when the slap fight started. No one left toothpaste all over the bathroom…)
*Except at Starwood brands. I’m sure it’s better now, but their property management system was the most vile, cobbled-together piece of shit I’ve ever used, back in 2008. And I’m comparing to Wyndham, Hilton, IHG, Choice, a couple of generic PMSs, and probably forgetting some.
A little bit of IT, a little bit of programming:
[ul]
[li]I know how to look a lot of things up. I also know the strangest stuff offhand. Which is which is more a function of what I’ve been doing recently than how difficult anything is.[/li][li]Running a fleet of computers with acceptable uptime is a different kind of thing than keeping a single computer on an even keel. You use different technologies which most programmers and hobbyist/small business computer users, no matter how good, haven’t really heard of and would have no experience with.[/li][li]IT doesn’t care about anything unless it impacts them directly or management has told them to care about it.[/li][li]You having shitty security practices impacts IT directly sooner rather than later.[/li][li]In the world of software development, most things are possible, but few things are possible quickly enough to be worthwhile.[/li][li]There’s few things more miserable than having to use a data source with no documentation and limited discoverability.[/li][li]Related to the above, if your database doesn’t have good schema documentation, it’s going to drag you down one way or another. Even if it’s useful right now. Especially if it’s useful right now.[/li][/ul]
Oh, there are nights when I do little- my paperwork takes roughly 75 minutes - but there are times I’m checking people in until 3 AM, answering the phone in between check in and then the checkouts start at 4 AM.
that 90 percent of console video games are worthless the minute you open it unless it turns out to be rare or a limited run or has some off the wall technical aspect and if it does have any collectible value its usually 10 to 20 years after the fact so holding on to it for 15 to 20 years to get back what you paid for it when we were willing to buy it from you is dumb
Now the rare exceptions are usually 8/16 bit RPGs and simulation games (ie civilization )
Your example is a little extreme, but a friendly attitude and a “I know I am really early, but my flight just landed and I am so, so tired, do you think it might be possible…?” can work wonders.
I have checked in several times more than 12 hours early, in hotels both big & small, some that I had “Status” with, others that I had never set foot in before.
If rooms are available, by in large the front desk clerk couldn’t care less if you show up early.
Nope. I charge an extra night if you show up at 12:30 AM and want to check in then. I mean, if they decided to leave at 11AM that morning that would mean a free stay. Not happening. 8 AM? Yeah, we probably won’t charge you. But you are not getting an extra night free.
Lots and lots of people call or show up late and cheerfully pay for the night.
Yep.
Just a few weeks ago in Nuremberg I showed up at 6:30am at a 4 star hotel I had never set foot in before, (check in time was either 3 or 4pm) and was in my room by 6:45, and that isn’t particularly unusual, either.
(I worked for IHG for 3 years, and have spent time in over 40 different US states and 20 different countries, at literally hundreds of different properties ranging from fleabag shitholes to 5 Star ultra-luxury resorts. Your policies are not universal, they are just that, YOUR policies, nothing more)
Sure , every hotel has its own policies. But there’s also a difference between checking in at 6:30 am and 12:30am. And one of those differences is that if I think a hotel will let me check in at 12:30am free, well I’m not making reservations for the day my flight arrives late in the evening. Because if I have a reservation, I’m going to pay and without a reservation, I have a shot at a free night. I’ve absolutely checked into hotels around midnight- but it was a late check in for Thursday ( which I was getting billed for , even if I didn’t show) , not an early check in for Friday.
If you check in before I run the audit, it’s Thursday. If you check in after I run the audit, it’s Friday. Everything else depends on whether there’s a vacant clean room, and on the hotel’s policies.
As was already said, 6:30 AM is much different than 12:30 AM. How about if they show up at 1 1:59 PM? Is that a free early check in, too? 12:30 AM is deliberately trying for a free night. My guess is there is some “how to get a free night!” article out there that suggests this.
I definitely agree. I would add:
- People don’t see that, as users, they are usually the biggest problem, not the device.
The people you pay for investment advice will charge you too much and will most likely perform worse than an index fund. If they do better than an index fund, it was because of blind luck and you can’t count on them to do it again. If they give you good general financial advice, hold your hand to keep you on track, minimize taxes, and help comfort you into not making stupid timing decisions, perhaps they are worth something, but still probably less than what they are charging.
Every fragile item I shop will now have “Live Bees!” stamped on every side. 
So that everyone passing by will think they are dead? Do people carry blankets in their cars?
Maybe if you live in Minnesota?
People may “love” and treasure your small, local business but in the long run…
Is this really part of your profession or just some non-educated conservative talking point you wanted to throw in here?
You’re still probably making 100 thousand a year and are in charge of a small chunk of the operation. But you’re right that there are hundreds of vice presidents and very few of them would report directly to the boss.