I’m sitting here at work freezing my nuts off while I type this. This hotel has just about hit rock bottom. It’s a shithole of the highest caliber. I’m thinking about calling the Department of Health and narc these fucks out. I’m sick of it. They want me to smoke outside? Fuck them. I freeze my ass off good enough inside thank you very much. While this “assistant general manager” continues to smoke like a goddamn chimney in his office. Someone explain to me how this is fair?

Management is nonexistent at the hotel. They are as clueless as they come. Morale is at the lowest I have ever seen it. Everyone bitches to me about everything. Not once have I heard anyone say something good about the workplace. Which just goes to show just how little these “managers” really care about their employees. These managers even like to try to bully the peons whenever they can. For example one front desk clerk told me about how the general manager told him that we do not get breaks and that they did not have to give us breaks. This gm went to tell him that the hotel industry is special and that it doesn’t have to follow the law. What law you ask? This law:

(820 ILCS 140/3) (from Ch. 48, par. 8c)
Sec. 3. Every employer shall permit its employees who are to work for 7 1/2 continuous hours or longer, except those specified in this Section, at least 20 minutes for a meal period beginning no later than 5 hours after the start of the work period.

Now I’m not sure where this gm gets his info. But I’m assuming this law even applies to poor hotel employees. So the question is what can the poor employee do about it? It’s quite simple. Narc on them. I’m going to fill out this form (you need Adobe Reader to view and print this) and send one in every day I work. And I suggest everyone else do so as well. The address is on the form. Or you can call the Illinois Department of Labor at (312) 793-2804 to get the form sent to you. You have rights people. Stand up for them. Just remember that knowing is half the battle!

Now you will have to excuse me as it is time for me to smoke a cigarette in the back office here while I blow my smoke on that stupid memo.

It’s that time again when the bosses decide it’s against the rules to smoke in the front desk area. Which everytime this comes up I find it funny for a number of reasons. First off to my knowledge it has always been a no no to smoke at the front desk area. Secondly this whole issue of not smoking in the building is all bullshit. It’s against the rules for me to smoke in the building. Yet it’s ok for the “assistant general manager” to smoke in his office and any where else he chooses? Here is the memo bellow:

To: Front Desk
From: <Name Removed>

Per the Ninja Management Company we are no longer allowed to smoke at anytime in the Front Office area. From here on the designated area for people to smoke will be outside door #3 when there is someone available to watch the Front Desk. There should be NO employees outside of the Front Desk and/or on the benches out front smoking anymore. For Audit you will be allowed to step outside the front doors as long as the desk is in view and only when there are NO guests around. These changes will take affect immediately. If there are any questions please ask.

The rules should apply to everyone. At least that’s how I feel about it. And of course this is not the way it is. Just for reference check out these following articles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) to see how the rules apply to everyone.

Ah November, a month that means so much to me. On one had this is the month I celebrate the day that I got fired from the hotel I now work at again. And on the other hand this month is very special for all of the games that come out. Halo 2, Half-Life 2, and World of Warcraft. Theres not enough time in the day for all of this gaming goodness.

I’m thinking I need to take some of my vacation time this month. Maybe to coincide with WoW’s release. A week in the lands of Azeroth sounds very relaxing to me. Of course alternating my time equally with the Master Chief and Mr. Freeman. It sounds like one of the better vacations I have had in a long time. It’s time like this I’m glad that work lets us have vacation time.

And speaking of work. I hate it here. It’s getting worse everyday. For example the one piece of technology that I rely on the most, The time clock. You probably have one were you work. It’s the greatest isn’t it? This wonderful machine that keeps track of all the hours you work so that when payday comes you can roll around naked in all the money you earned. Well the one at the hotel is dying. It takes ten fucking minutes to punch in. And I’m not asking for a lot here.

And I have heard stories that the accounting department is so fucking stupid they don’t know how to read the shit at the bottom of the time card you write in. The little money I make is the only thing that keeps me happy at that place. That and quiting time. God damn I love when it’s time to go home. But all of this is under jeopardy because of this shitty time clock. I mean how bad does the hotel suck they can’t fix this one thing that is so important to every real employee they have?

It sounds like the hunt for my new boss is over with. That is of course if the rumor mill is to be believed and I think this rumor is true. It’s been a long (well not that long) process to find a replacement. There has been a lot of people wanting the job. What kinds of people? People who work here who don’t deserve or qualify for the job. People who used to work here and don’t deserve or qualify for the job. And a person that used to be a good friend who would deserve it and maybe even qualify for it. And of course all of these people that seem to crawl out of the woodwork like cockroaches whenever a management gig is open.

So my new boss is a guy that works at the hotel. This in it’s self is a major achievement. Because despite the hotel saying that one can move forward in rank it never really has been true. It’s one of those fairy tails they tell people to make them think they have a future at the hotel. It has been a number of years and a few management teams ago that anything like this has happened. And the last few front desk managers we have had have never come from inside the hotel.

But this new boss is from inside the hotel. A guy that has earned his stripes you could say. He really is the closest thing to way it used to be. You used start as a bellman and then you work your way up the limited ladder the hotel maintains. And I think these people that have come up that way make better front desk clerks. You get to see more of the place. You know the layout of the hotel from experience and not from looking at a map. You also have a lot more interaction with the guests. Which really is a plus.

As a bellman you kind of drift between two worlds. On one hand your part of the front desk and you see how things work up here. But then your also part of the restaurant and you get to see how that end of the hotel works. You get the opportunity to be yelled at by people in two different areas. Which either proves you can handle it or it shows just how much of a pussy you really are.

And there should be no pussies at the front desk. It can be a horrible job at times. People will tear you a new asshole up here at times. You also have the burden of taking shit for everything that goes wrong in the hotel, thats the way it is. If shit went wrong at the restaurant the front desk hears about it. If some dumb ass maintenance guy couldn’t fix the heating problem you had the front desk hears about it. You need thick skin for dealing with these kinds of assholes (guests) and I’ve seen front desk clerk that have been brought to tears.

All of this really doesn’t matter though. What matters is that I hope this guy remembers where he came from. That he hires and trains people correctly. Because of that happens my job is all the easier. And the less shit I have to put up with the happier I am. But becoming a manager is kind of like becoming a Jedi. There is a good and a bad side. And like being a Jedi the pull to the Dark Side is very strong when it comes to management. It’s easy to forget where you did come from. It’s easy to become one of them. I like to think this won’t happen with this new boss. Now I just have to wait and see.

There are a lot of rumors going around about who will become the new front desk manager. Of course it just seems like yesterday I was talking about how we had a nice and new front desk manager. But as it goes that nice young lady decided that there are some things more important than working at a third rate hotel franchise. And it really is to bad. Because this lady was one of the better and nicest front desk managers we have had in a long time.

Now I have heard how one ex employee wants to apply for this open position. I’ve written about this topic before and I hate having to repeat myself. The current management will not hire from within the hotel. I know they like to claim otherwise on that subject. But it’s all lies. The last couple of times they hired from outside the hotel. This isn’t going to change. It’s been like this for a long time, with a rare exception now and then.

It’s unfortunate that of all the people that should apply for the front desk manager job probably won’t. And that’s because the experience the last time left such an impression on her I don’t think there is a enough money in the world to get her back. But then I really don’t blame her. For the pay it’s not worth it. The front desk manager is expected to work 50 hours a week. And that’s not including manager on duty shifts. Plus the fact that these poor bastards are salary doesn’t help.

No I feel sorry for whoever they get to fill the position. I don’t think some of these people that want the job realize what it is they will be getting into. And don’t get me wrong. I have a certain amount of respect for them. Just for the fact that I know that it’s not something I can do. I’ve tried it and failed. So anyone who can deal with that kind of bullshit deserves a little respect. But the problem is depending on who is hired the mess they will be coming into. Because depending on who it is, there is a good chance that this future front desk manager is going to have bite off more than she can chew. But you got to learn the hard way sometimes, if you can learn at all.

There was another front desk meeting today. It went pretty good. None of the meetings the young front desk manager runs are that bad really. It was funny that she no longer uses the phrase “get on/off the bus” anymore. I would like to think that the lack of this phrase form her spiel could be thanks to me and Gawain’s combined efforts.

A topic that was brought up is this mythical management company that runs the show for the owner. Now I think of these people in the same way one does of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Because all I ever hear from others are these supposed sightings of these people. I have never seen one myself, so I’ll just go on believing that these management people are the stuff of legend. All though I would like to try to capture one. You know for the sake of science. Learn about their mating habits, their culture, and anything else that will help mankind understand these creatures that manage the hotel.

And look who has a website now. And if you want to torture yourself before viewing the “content” of this site take a look at their horrendous intro page. Whomever designed this site most be ashamed of their work because there is no clear indication on who is responsible for getting the hotel on the net. And let me just say that I had nothing to do with that site. I happen to be very against these intro type pages. I myself hate that kind of shit. I want to get to the content, not listen to some shitty flash intro.

And what’s even funnier is the fact whomever made this site didn’t take an effort to get some new images of the hotel. I can see quite a few images taken directly from a Holiday Inn era brochure on at least two pages. And as it happens Troy is in two if those pictures. I don’t think he will be to happy to see his image associated with this hotel.

We had another front desk meeting. One positive comment before I unload and let me just say that the old me is back. I really do like the new front desk manager. She is a nice person who’s trying to do what she’s told to do.

Where to start? Let’s start with the metaphor this article’s title came from. Since this nice young lady came aboard I’ve heard “it’s time to get on the bus” time and time again and I’m getting sick of fucking hearing this tripe. She needs me on the bus or off, it’s my choice. Can you all what choice I’m going to make? Because it’s an easy choice. I don’t belong on the goddamn bus. I don’t want to be on the bus as long as these fuckers are all on it. I’ll walk thank you very much.

Next subject. There is a new hotel (policy?) and it involves farming e-mail addresses from our guests for the sole purpose of spamming the fuck out of them. I got one for them and it’s brand new, offthebus at hotelblues dot com and I can be reached there. I flat out refuse to take a part in this new spam campaign. And the person who collects the most e-mail address’s will get a prize. Brings back that gay points system.

Another thing is all of the goddamn paper work we have now. And it’s not just having all of these wasted paper. It’s all the fucking initialing one has to do in a day. I’m getting sick of all of it. They also don’t like my messy hand writing. I’m going to start signing my name minus the vowels. I’m a lazy fuck I admit it. We have like four binders we have to look at and initial. It’s insane. I’ve never seen any management company try so hard to have a paper trail made for the soul benefit of firing someone.

What else? Oh yeah when I do something for a guest I’m supposed to say “It’s my pleasure” and I’m guessing I’m supposed to say it with some honesty. Which is the biggest problem for me. I can’t say that without it coming out like I’m being sarcastic. It’s fucking gay. It ain’t my pleasure, it’s my fucking job. That’s what we should say. No problem Sir it’s my job. It just so much more honest than that My Pleasure bullshit.

Back to stepping off the bus. I’ve set a date for when I would like to get off the bus. I’m going to try really to get off the bus on November 28th of this year. Every day it’s harder and harder to just come in. The best part of my day is when I walk out of the front doors of this place. And I have no idea of what I will do. With any luck I won’t have any choice and they will be kind enough to fire me again and then finally it would be my pleasure.