Excuses, Excuses
The day started off very early. As I drove to the Inn, I noticed the darkened sky from the previous night was still well intact; the sun hadn’t begun to cut any light through it at all. The day was so premature, that when I arrived, the Night Auditor would not yet be relieved from his shift at the Front Desk, the dining room would stand dim and lifeless before the chaotic rush of early breakfast go-ers awoke and the lobby would project a sense of calm, similar only to the quickly passing eye of a tropical storm. These would be the perfect conditions to wrap up a slew of reports that I had been putting off for days...and were due to the corporate office by lunch time! Alas, I had finally run out of time and excuses for putting them off.
I wiped the final remnants from the Sandman’s duties out of my eyes as the lobby doors slid open and knocked loudly against its medal frame. Sound is different at this time of the morning; it’s amplified. Any afternoon of the week I could walk through those same double doors without a second thought, but at this hour - it might as well have been a shotgun blast!
While doing my best to express as little of the unwarranted terror as I was feeling and hoping that Buck, the Night Auditor did not notice my heart beating out of my chest, I approached the Front Desk and raised an open hand to wave.
“Hey Buck, how was your night?” I asked on the verge of a sweat.
“The usual,” he replied as he looked up from stacking and collating papers. “Pretty quiet except for a some loud arguing in Room #111 around 2AM, but nothing physical; they made up I guess.”
“Well, if there’s nothing pressing at the moment, I will be in my office for a while,” I said as I began to walk away, hoping he would not remember something that would deflect my attention any further.
“A couple call-outs if you want to take them,” he said casually.
“Damn!” I thought, “I knew I shoudn’t have asked.”
Buck reached over to a small yellow notepad and ripped off the top page, “There’s two of them and they’re both newbies: Melissa from the Front Desk and Jeff the new maintenance assistant guy,” he said.
“Damn!” I said out loud.
Call-outs happen all the time, but if the schedule is made well enough and those that do show up for work are well-trained, then it doesn’t have to be a big headache. It’s a little different with newbies though, because it breaks down the training process, wastes a lot of time and increases the work load for everyone else. Plus, it can speak volumes about a new employee’s dedication to their job and their willingness to lie or make excuses.
Ah, excuse, excuses. They’re what got me to the Inn at such an ungodly hour in the first place. I just hoped that their excuses were good ones, considering the jam-packed morning I had in front of me!
I snatched the note from Buck and walked to the office while considering what the makings of a “good excuse” would be on a day like today. I have heard them all, but I expect some quality from new staff members that call-out so early in the morning. If they have called by this time, it was either an absolute emergency or a really pathetic attempt to squeeze in a lame excuse before there were any managers around to speak to directly. Maybe they were worried about having to concoct a “sick voice” or answer any tough questions. Although, there was always the possibility that something legitimately terrible or life-threatening did happened... my mind wondered.
I unlocked the office door, clicked on the light and planted myself behind my desk. With an index finger I pushed the power button to start up the computer and glanced down at my other hand, still holding the folded yellow note - it seemed to taunt me. With much work immediately ahead... I sat silently distracted, contemplating on the myriad of call-out possibilities - trying to pair them with the two staff members.
Melissa seemed like an honest enough lady during the interview and orientation; arriving early for both if I remembered correctly. Chuck, the manager at the Front Desk, hadn’t given me an update yet, but as I passed through the lobby the other day, she seemed very charismatic with the guests in front of her. “Is she revealing her true colors?” I thought.
Jeff was great during his interview, he had more than fifteen years of experience with plumbing and electrical and wasn’t afraid to go into great detail about his work ethic. His references called him a real “man’s man”: early riser, hard-worker and no nonsense kind of guy. Perhaps he and his references had laid it on too thick. “Is he too good to be true?” I pondered.
As my desktop icons began to load, I felt the pressure to make my predictions...
For Melissa I guessed car trouble at first. It’s pretty easy to explain without saying too much. Just mentioning something about an engine light or leaking fluids could buy a nice day off with little effort, especially if she claimed to know very little about cars herself. Then, it occurred to me that a car excuse was more suitable for a last minute call-out, much closer to the time of her shift. I finally settled on an excuse about her children or family falling ill. I was pretty sure she mentioned having a child or two and when a problem arises with children and family it’s usually in the dead of night.
After some debate over Jeff, I figured on some variation of the ‘I’m not feeling well’ excuse. If this was his choice, I had a wide selection of ailments to narrow it down from. I considered giving him points for creativity if he invented a new disease I haven’t heard of, but decided he would lose points with me if it was some type of generic 24-hour flu. Finally, I settled on a middle-of-the-road excuse: “upset stomach”.
I locked-in my final answers, placed my imaginary wagers on the table and opened the yellow note with my thumb; it read:
Melissa called out @ 3:30AM/ Car was broken into overnight; windshield smashed.
Jeff called out @ 4:15Am/ Wife went into labor/ it’s a boy.
And so I must admit - I’m just as good at pairing excuses to employees as I am at pairing winning lotto numbers to the nightly drawing. As predictable as some excuses may be, there is always room brand new ones and you just don’t know who will come back with what!
I picked up a pen and reached for my daily calendar. Just below the bold red reminder for the day's impending deadline, I jotted:
No Excuses:
Melissa - Reschedule hours/Get car details.
Jeff - Send baby card/Ask for pictures.
~The Innkeeper
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Posted by Innkeeper at 1/10/2011 6:00 AM 
Categories: Collection 2 Chronicles, New Hires, Call-Outs
Tags: Excuse Early Hotel Inn Lobby Call Out Procrastinate Night Auditor Front Desk
Categories: Collection 2 Chronicles, New Hires, Call-Outs
Tags: Excuse Early Hotel Inn Lobby Call Out Procrastinate Night Auditor Front Desk
Let's here it for procrastination! Haha unless it's life threatening i put everything off til the last minute
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This is another interesting post, keep them coming!
I worked in motels and hotels for a long time and I have heard alot of call out excuses, but one my personal favorites was when a housekeeper couldn’t come in because she said her dog had puppies unexpectedly.
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I had to call out of work at the last minute for my second child. When my boss got on the phone I just said 'my water just broke!' and hung up. lol he understood and excused my absence
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