Thursday 15 November 2012

THE ARMED ROBBER AND HIS SUIT: WORKING VERY HARD TO STEAL

On a queue waiting to be attended to and quietly whistling away. This is usually my subtle approach to passing time whenever I happen to be on a queue waiting to be attended to and on this particular day, the approach was not different as I patiently waited for my turn. I really do not pay attention to what is going on with those before me so as not to get a bit frustrated with the rigors of waiting. However, the events that would happen within the next few minutes forced me to change my age long belief and I suddenly found myself listening.



The lady being attended to had just checked out of a particular room and she wanted a receipt for the room she stayed over the night; the employee attending to her was shocked and dumbfounded as he could not find her name on the system. He probed further to be sure that she knew exactly the room she had checked out from and she just handed him the key as it was given to her by the other employee who checked her in.

Now things were becoming clearer, she was obviously checked into the room as she rightly claimed but her details were not recorded on the system. The guest now in the loop about what had happened then seized her opportunity by stating that the employee who had checked her in actually collected more than the amount that should be charged from her and insisted that she needed to see the breakdown to know how much tax she was charged.

To cut the long story short, the young man on duty at that time who had no idea of how much the guest was charged had to refund some amount to her. The guest collected the amount and with the most appropriate of utterances, she stated that even robbers wear suits and we all laughed. This was obviously in reference to how the employees dress and this instantly set me thinking. My thoughts centered around a question which I ask you today. How much are you willing to discredit your first and last name for and for how much exactly are you willing to jeopardize the reputation of an organization?

It was indeed a bad day for the employee that relieved the so called robber. He just resumed day shift and he was forced to deal with this kind of mess caused by another employee with no conscience and no regard for the place he gets his daily living from. It even cost the hotel some money as two guests who were before me simply walked out. It really didn't deter me from checking in as I knew that it's always wise to request for a copy of your receipt after you have paid for a service and not after you have used the service.

I learnt that even though someone is in suit, watch out as he may be the armed robber you've been looking for...

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