Tell me why I shouldn't leave this job

[W_HAMILTON]

I had a "situation" at work tonight. I work at a hotel front desk.

I had a guest who was clearly drunk, and making a scene. He came to the front desk and said his key card wouldn't work. He said he just got it keyed three days ago. He was cursing up a storm, being loud and obnoxious (which is putting it lightly) -- all at the front desk, in front of everyone to see.

I've dealt with drunk people before, but nothing like this. Nothing could be done to satisfy him. He kept cursing and yelling, in front of other guests. I called the manager back and forth a few times, because the drunk guy wanted to talk to him, but the manager didn't want to talk to him while he was at the front desk making a scene. However, he would not go away, no matter what I did.

They finally get him pleased, so he goes away in our lobby, and I hear him whining throughout the night. About three hours later, he comes back. He says his key does not work. He says he pissed his pants because he couldn't get into his room (and believe me, they were pissed). I ask him to let me see the key, and he says "no, this is evidence for when I sue your asses." Ok. He ends up storming around the corner, opening the door to our front desk space where only employees are allowed. I say let's walk up to his room. We do. He's stumbling the whole time. We get to this room. He puts in the key. Guess what? Green light, it works. The door opens. Is he satisfied? Of course not. He gets pissed that and says it didn't work before (sure). He tells me to "stop plagarizing him" (yes, those were his words). I say he should just head into his room, get washed up, and head to bed. He doesn't want to do that.

He walks back downstairs, bitching the whole time (I consider myself a good person, but so help me God I was praying that his drunk ass would fall right down every stair). Along the way, he says he couldn't get into one of our back doors, so I say "let's see if the key works on this one?" Green light, it did. The key ain't the problem, it's his drunk ass.

All the while we head back to the front desk, and I'm asking him what he wants me to do to fix the situation. He says more crap and is angry he pissed his pants because the key didn't work (but oh, it did). I let him know where the public restroom is, not 30 ft from where he had been drinking and socializing all night. This makes him even angrier. He says something like "I'm doing all I can to keep from smacking you right now." He then smacks the wall in anger, not 6 inches from my head. I walk out and back to the front desk, and let the manager know if I see him again I'm calling the cops.

He comes back down a few minutes later, acting jovial (my 3rd shift guy was there now, it wasn't just me alone). He wasn't acting like the asshole he was earlier. I have never been so angry in my life. I treated him with respect the entire time, even though it was killing me. I literally wanted to kill the guy. I've never been talked to that way in my entire life, much less threatened.

But the kicker is this. The 3rd shift guy says that the place will probably just warn him. That's it. Not kick him out. Just "warn" him. I won't mention the company name, but this is a national hotel chain. There's probably not one person around here who wouldn't know the name. This is a new job for me (my 5th week), and I need the money. If I didn't, I would tell them to go fuck themselves if they are going to put a guest like that ahead of me AND other guests (he was disrupting guests the entire night).

So, what should I do? Maybe venting a little bit helped. But I can't believe that a huge hotel chain wouldn't kick a customer out who was acting like that. Maybe they will. I damn sure hope so. Because I don't know how I will live with myself if I stick with a job that sided with a drunk, belligerent, aggressive, drunk guy who threatened to hit me and was disrupting hotel service all night long. I don't know what to do. How could a company not kick someone out like that?

[Deja Q]

1. I must agree; customers should be respectful too...

and equally to the staff as well as the walls he seems to want to hit on.

Being drunk is one thing, but it's no excuse for making such a huge scene. Doubly so for threatening a person, that is just wrong on so many levels.

Doubtlessly he was having a bad night and may have used anger to hide his embarrassment, but that assessment may not be accurate either. Drunk people are hard to discern. (LOL, from my perspective the most sober of people can be difficult to discern too...) But drunk or not, there's no excuse for what he had done...

No doubt the jerk would have sued and won in today's litigious climate if the hotel chain bothered to set standards of decency. :(

[W_HAMILTON]

2. It's even worse than that

Like I said, I've been in this field for 4+ years now. I've NEVER had anyone treat me that way. I've never been treated that way, EVER, by ANYONE. How a huge national brand would not just kick his ass out, I have no idea. Like I said, I just don't know what I'll do if they don't kick him out.

I did absolutely nothing wrong. If I acted the way he did to someone's child, I would probably have been killed. If I acted that way to a fellow employee, I'd be terminated on the spot. If I acted that way to someone in real life, I'd be in jail right now. How a company can do anything but boot his ass, I have no idea. Like I said, I'll go crazy tomorrow if I find out they won't kick him out. That's just insane. I couldn't even come close to describing how awful he was. I've dealt with drunk people, and I've dealt with angry drunk people. I've NEVER dealt with someone like him before, anywhere.

[Oeditpus Rex]

3. We live in Bizarro World

Obnoxious drunks aren't thrown out of hotels and women are thrown out of airplanes for nursing their children. :eyes:

I kinda know how you feel — but you need the job, right?

It's revolting how much shit we've gotta eat so we won't be unemployed. :grr:

[MoseyWalker]

4. many years ago

i worked for a motel for a short time.

a customer came into this moderately priced motel expecting Hilton service. I didn't give it to her.

she left after i went a little crazy, and i left the motel the next morning never to return.

life goes on, and good things are out there. good luck