Time To Throw In The Towel

I work overnights at a hotel. I mostly do desk auditor duties, but we’ve lost our laundry attendant and a few housekeepers. Our higher-ups told my managers to not hire a new laundry attendant, so I’ve been doing laundry at night.

I start work at 11:00 pm. On this particular night, there is so much laundry to be done and I feel slightly overwhelmed at the sight. I get started, but every five minutes, there’s a ring from our desk bell or a phone call from a guest upstairs. After an hour, I finally give up on trying to do laundry since there’s so much activity at the front desk. 

Then, I get a guest who rings our bell insistently until I arrive. Their key isn’t working, so I recode it and give it to them.

Guest: “I think it’s so rude it took you so long to get here.”

I smile feebly.

Me: “I’m really sorry about that; I was in the back trying to get some laundry folded—” 

Guest: “Seriously, don’t they pay other people to do that?”

Me: “We used to have a laundry attendant, but we don’t right now, so my coworkers and I all do our part to help.”

Guest: “That’s just ridiculous. You’re a desk person so you should only be doing desk duties.”

Me: “Again, I’m really sorry about the wait. I hope the rest of your night goes well.”

The guest took my hint and left in a huff. A couple of days later, a review came in saying that the hotel needed to hire a laundry attendant since it’s unfair for paying guests to “wait so long for the desk person to return.” 

The higher-ups still won’t let us hire a laundry attendant.