Babysitting Should Cost Extra

I work in a hotel. Recently, I checked in a woman who said she was renting a room for her brother who is disabled and in a wheelchair.

Me: “No problem. We’ll just need his ID so I can add him to the guest list.”

Woman: “Okay. He won’t be any problem. He’ll just need help here and there. If you need to, you can call me directly at any time.”

The first night was uneventful. The woman was in the guest’s room for about an hour and then left. The next day, the guest called me at around 5:00 pm.

Guest: “My HVAC unit is blowing cold air.”

Me: “No problem. Just push the ‘heat’ button and adjust the temperature with the up and down buttons.”

Guest: *Long sigh* “I can’t do it. I need your help; I’m disabled.”

Me: “Okay, sir, I understand; however, all you need to do is push the ‘heat’ button and adjust the temperature.”

Guest: “But I can’t do it! I’m disabled. I need your help!”

I went up to the room, and the unit was set to heat and was at seventy degrees.

Me: “The unit is on heat. Would you like me to turn it up?”

Guest: “Yes; I’m freezing!”

I tried to prompt him to come over so I could show him how to adjust the temperature, but he just sat there. I turned it up to seventy-five and left.

About an hour later, he called again.

Guest: “My TV has no picture.”

Me: “Press the ‘input’ button on your remote and change it to ‘cable’.”

Guest: “I can’t do it; I need your help.”

Me: “Get your remote, and—”

Guest: “I can’t do it! I’m disabled and I need your help!”

I went and did that. I tried to show him how to change the input and he did nothing.

Later that day he apparently ordered pizza and gave the wrong room number, so the delivery guy left the pizza at the desk. I called the guest’s room.

Me: “Sir, your pizza is here at the desk.”

Guest: “I can’t come get it; I’m disabled.”

So, I took the pizza to his room. Not ten minutes later, he came down to the breakfast area with the pizza and asked me to turn on the TV. Luckily, I could do that from the desk, so I did. He was there for about two hours, which was fine; he wasn’t bothering anyone. However, he didn’t bother to clean up after himself.

He did that for a couple of days with food his sister brought. I honestly didn’t mind cleaning up after him after he was done watching TV in the breakfast area. I just let him be and do his thing. He called on and off for things he couldn’t do, per usual.

Today, however, he decided to go to [Fast Food Restaurant], which was a block away. An hour later, the restaurant called the hotel and asked for someone to pick up our “patient”. I was confused.

Me: “Um… we’re not a health care facility.”

Employee: “Well, there’s a guy in the lobby that won’t leave. He’s in a wheelchair, and his name is [Guest].

Me: “Yes, we do have a guest who’s staying with us who matches that description.”

Employee: “He wants to watch TV as he eats his food, but we don’t have one in our lobby. He won’t leave; someone needs to pick him up now.”

I called his sister and she didn’t answer. It was a busy day, and I was the only one at the desk, so I kept calling. I got no answer every time. Meanwhile, I kept checking in guests.

The fast food restaurant called again, and this time, it was the manager.

Manager: “If someone doesn’t pick up your guest soon, we’ll call the police.”

Our guest has three more days on his reservation, and I didn’t want any issues with rent or anything, so I put up our “Be Back In Ten Minutes” sign and ran to the restaurant to bring him back.

I started to take him to his room, but he insisted that he wanted to eat in the breakfast area. Okay, fine.

I called his sister again and left a lengthy voicemail about what happened and told her that I’m not doing that again.