It sounds like the hunt for my new boss is over with. That is of course if the rumor mill is to be believed and I think this rumor is true. It’s been a long (well not that long) process to find a replacement. There has been a lot of people wanting the job. What kinds of people? People who work here who don’t deserve or qualify for the job. People who used to work here and don’t deserve or qualify for the job. And a person that used to be a good friend who would deserve it and maybe even qualify for it. And of course all of these people that seem to crawl out of the woodwork like cockroaches whenever a management gig is open.
So my new boss is a guy that works at the hotel. This in it’s self is a major achievement. Because despite the hotel saying that one can move forward in rank it never really has been true. It’s one of those fairy tails they tell people to make them think they have a future at the hotel. It has been a number of years and a few management teams ago that anything like this has happened. And the last few front desk managers we have had have never come from inside the hotel.
But this new boss is from inside the hotel. A guy that has earned his stripes you could say. He really is the closest thing to way it used to be. You used start as a bellman and then you work your way up the limited ladder the hotel maintains. And I think these people that have come up that way make better front desk clerks. You get to see more of the place. You know the layout of the hotel from experience and not from looking at a map. You also have a lot more interaction with the guests. Which really is a plus.
As a bellman you kind of drift between two worlds. On one hand your part of the front desk and you see how things work up here. But then your also part of the restaurant and you get to see how that end of the hotel works. You get the opportunity to be yelled at by people in two different areas. Which either proves you can handle it or it shows just how much of a pussy you really are.
And there should be no pussies at the front desk. It can be a horrible job at times. People will tear you a new asshole up here at times. You also have the burden of taking shit for everything that goes wrong in the hotel, thats the way it is. If shit went wrong at the restaurant the front desk hears about it. If some dumb ass maintenance guy couldn’t fix the heating problem you had the front desk hears about it. You need thick skin for dealing with these kinds of assholes (guests) and I’ve seen front desk clerk that have been brought to tears.
All of this really doesn’t matter though. What matters is that I hope this guy remembers where he came from. That he hires and trains people correctly. Because of that happens my job is all the easier. And the less shit I have to put up with the happier I am. But becoming a manager is kind of like becoming a Jedi. There is a good and a bad side. And like being a Jedi the pull to the Dark Side is very strong when it comes to management. It’s easy to forget where you did come from. It’s easy to become one of them. I like to think this won’t happen with this new boss. Now I just have to wait and see.