In November, I attended a convention in Tucson, Arizona. Back in October, just before the cutoff date, I reserved two nights at the hotel and gave the code for the convention rate. They didn’t need a card number for the reservation, which I thought was odd, but oh, well.

I went up to the desk during the convention and told the clerk I had a reservation.

Clerk: “I don’t see anything here.”

Then, he poked around for a minute.

Clerk: “Here it is. The tenth and eleventh of October, not November.”

Me: “What? I specifically gave the TUSCON50 code to get the cheaper rate.”

Clerk: “Yup, I see that here, and at the convention rate. I don’t know what they were thinking.”

Luckily, they were only about a third filled, even with the convention, so I got a room — even at the convention rate.

My friends and I travel by train from our town to a big city to go to a gaming convention. It’s the second year we’ve done it, and it’s a lot of fun, but the actual travel is a bit tiring. Nevertheless, we manage to make it to the convention center in good time and with all our gear.

Or so we thought.

Friend: “I don’t have my convention badge.”

Some back-and-forth more or less confirms that he left it on the train somehow, but the convention rules are clear: no badge, no admittance. We’re at a bit of a loss until we remember the glory of instant communication and contact the convention through their official social media address.

Good news! We’re told that if [Friend] goes to the Will Call desk, they’ll give him a new badge.

He gets in line, explains the situation, and is summarily told that they don’t have any extra badges and can’t give him one. He tries to explain again, even showing the replies that he got from the social media account, but their hands are tied; they have rules and they can’t do anything about it. They are very apologetic, but we eventually determine that they literally don’t have any extra badges. They have the badges for people coming to the Will Call desk and that’s it. Giving one of them to my friend would result in someone else not getting their badge, and that’s not acceptable to either us or them.

We’re all pretty upset; the big draw of the convention for the three of us is going together, and if he can’t get in, we’re not going to leave him behind no matter how much he insists that we do it. Disheartened, he explains his experience through the social media account and gets a surprising response.

Social Media: “Where are you right now?”

Friend: “I’m… at the entrance, near the Will Call booth?”

About two minutes later, the business manager of the company that runs the convention (aka the guy who organizes, runs, and markets the convention) walks up.

Business Manager: “[Friend]?”

Friend: “Uh… yes?”

Business Manager: “Enjoy the show.”

And with that, he handed a badge to my friend and walked off without another word, leaving us completely flabbergasted at the actions of the absolute top guy who most likely had a TON of other stuff to do on the opening day of a 50,000-person convention.

He didn’t even let us thank him before he took off!

It was a sold-out weekend at our hotel because of a major corporate convention. Guests were coming in from all over the country. The rooms were assigned by the housing bureau and paid for by their employer. It had been a crazy night with people finding out they had roommates, a non-smoker being assigned a smoking room, and two hated competitors being assigned to the same room (intentionally done by their boss, with notes not to move them).

One of our last arrivals for this group was a man named Robin. Immediately after Robin checked in, he returned to the desk with a young lady in tow.

Robin: “There must be a mistake; I’m in a room with a woman I don’t know.”

Lady: “I’m sure he is a nice guy, but staying in a room with a strange man…”

Me: “I apologize, but we didn’t assign the rooms; they were assigned by the housing bureau.”

Robin: “Could I pay for my own room?”

Me: “Unfortunately, we’re sold out.”

There was a hotel on the other side of downtown that had rooms — but of course, all the convention meetings were at our hotel. I did point out that if they could find someone in a single room to switch with, I would be more than happy to reassign the rooms. They retired to the bar to figure things out.

I later saw them together at the convention’s social hour. They approached me and said they would make it work, and they asked if I could send up a pair of robes.

A year later, I’d forgotten all about Robin and his roommate when I received a call to come to the desk. There at the desk were Robin and his roommate, both with wide smiles on their faces. She was holding her hand up in that way all new brides do to show off their rings.

That weekend a year before was the start of their whirlwind relationship. They had just gotten married and decided to spend their honeymoon in the city where they’d met. I helped them plan their sightseeing activities and made restaurant suggestions.

They returned for the next two years that I was at that property. The last I heard, they had a child on the way and had relocated to our area.

I was a volunteer for an anime con, and one of the duties that I volunteered for was door duty for [animated adult content] theater. Aside from making sure that guests had badges or a wristband (of the day), I also had to check IDs to make sure they were over eighteen.

A guy who was clearly in his forties came up.

Me: “Can I see your ID, please, sir?”

Guy: “Oh, please. I clearly look old enough.”

Me: “I knew high schoolers who looked like they were in their twenties. ID, please.”

He showed me his ID, went in, and came out ten minutes later. I guess it wasn’t his type of showing.

I’m at a convention with some friends. We’re eating in the food court when a guy comes up to us.

Guy: “Hey, I just got discharged from [Hospital] and need to get home. Do any of y’all have some cash I could use to take a bus home?”

Before anyone else can respond, one of my friends speaks up.

Friend: “Oh, [Hospital] you say? I actually know one of the social workers there, and she can get you a free bus pass to get you home! Let me call her really quick.”

My friend pulls out her phone, but the guy scowls.

Guy: “F*** you.”

We watch as he leaves. My friend shrugs.

Friend: “Funny how once I offer a good solution, they never wanna take it.”