The last of the stragglers in the bar head out into the cold Saturday night air. I gather the broom, mop and other cleaning utensils as my work really only starts at two in the morning. The night shift in this small country hotel is quiet, lonely and frustrating and I’ll be stuck there until eight o’clock.
Twelve-hour days Monday to Friday studying for a masters and, besides the unpaid work done outside of the course to add to a slowly growing portfolio, a paid position still awaits between the hours of midnight and eight at night during those two magical days of the weekend.
I have the privilege of having three job titles, something not unfamiliar to many working in the hospitality industry: barman, waiter and night porter.
It is an all too familiar situation for students. Working weekends to keep the show on the road financially certainly isn’t what I’d call a problem. “Aren’t you lucky to have it,” I’ve been told by many a local as I plonk a pint of plain on the bar in front of them and I’m grateful for the work I have, like many others, I may not have been able to return to college without it.
It is the way some people can treat workers like myself that is truly upsetting.
Not too long ago as I was finishing up serving for the night a young man began to berate me across the bar. Unsavoury language was spewed at me for a number of minutes, anyone would think I had committed a terrible crime. I couldn’t have even served him a bad pint as he was drinking pint bottles.
Either way, not one person felt the need to intervene on my behalf. Nobody thought to try and placate him. A year ago when I was far greener behind the bar, than I am now, this would have been a huge problem and I would have been worried for my safety. At this stage of my hospitality career, I can give as good as I get, especially at two in the morning!
After a brief interaction between myself and the inebriated cretin berating me, I informed him that I do not take that kind of abuse behind the bar. I wasn’t polite. He fell silent and, after a few moments, he quietly shuffled out of the bar and disappeared into the night.
You put in around eighty hours per week between college work and other projects, you skip socialising with friends to complete things before deadline and then you go to work at the weekend to play dumb and, for the most part, treat the customer like they want to be treated—as if they’re always right. The last thing a student needs is unprovoked abuse at work.
Hoovering the back bar I heard almighty thumping from the front door of the hotel. I ran to the door to see what the problem was. A resident met me. She tore me to pieces as she had been stuck outside the hotel for twenty minutes, “my mistake…I can’t apologise enough,” there was nothing else I could say. “No…no it’s not good enough,” she screamed at me, wide eyed and freezing, all at half three at night.
I take criticism of my work quite personally and I was honestly very upset. Not at the fact I was verbally assaulted in the middle of the night, but because I had let a customer down— if you’re ever frustrated by a hotel worker, think of me, and presume that they are doing their best because for the most part they honestly want every customer to be happy.
As it happens, there is a bell to get into the hotel at night. When the bell is rang it connects to the hotel phone, which is in my pocket at all times. I began testing the bell in case it wasn’t operational. I turned the hoover on and pressed the bell outside. I stood by my hoover and listened as the ringing of the phone in my pocket was so very audible over the sound of Henry the hoover and his wry smiling face. It transpired that the woman locked out for twenty minutes hadn’t had the wherewithal to just ring the bell, but of course it was all my fault.
Many a customer will always be lovely to deal with. That’s where the buzz of working in the industry comes from, when you do your job well and the customer appreciates you for it.
It’s important to always remember that many of the people serving food and drink at the weekend are students. They give up their days off, yes, to earn a bit of cash, but also to ensure people enjoy their days off too. Many are putting umpteen hours into their college courses all week and just want to get through the weekend without incident at work.
Be nice to your servers, barmen and even the poor night porters. Even if things go wrong during your outing to an establishment, think, at least for a second, about the person you’re about to give out to. Mentally fatigued student or full-time hospitality worker, they’ll appreciate understanding and compassion from their customers.
