thoughts on character flaws.

I was a very gullible child. Unfortunately, that trait has carried into my adulthood and I put too much faith in promises made.

I tend to take people at their word, and for the most part I like having the quality of being trusting and an optimist; however, this is ALL KINDS of bad for business. Once, I allowed a person to stay in a room without a guaranteed payment; he swore his boss was going to call first thing in the morning with a credit card number, but he slipped out in the middle of the night and no call was ever received. My boss made me pay for the room out of my own pocket. Needless to say, I learned my lesson.

I'll always remember his name and face, and I have access to a copy of his drivers license in the event we ever cross paths again. But really, I'm not looking for revenge... just a chance to remind him that I'm the better person.

On the flip side, I get the benefit of knowing that I'm more generous than I have any reason to be. And from time to time I come across a person who is kind enough to take the time to bring their thanks to my attention; it is for this very reason that I enjoy my job the most. Aside from my insolent gripes about the things guests so often do, I enjoy being able to exercise my compassion and flexibility in such a manner that can be helpful to those in difficult situations while still accomplishing my goals on the business end of things.

For example:

A guest who had been staying here for 27 consecutive days had failed to pay for his room yesterday. I knew the room was still occupied and I caught some glimpses here and there of the guest's family, but my repeated attempts calling and knocking on his door went unanswered and it became uncomfortably apparent that he was dodging my advances. I very easily could have had him ejected from the room, but instead I chose to step out on a limb on his behalf to arrange for payment without actually collecting money.

Let me explain. After 31 consecutive days lodging at a hotel, it becomes the person's legal residence for which they are not liable to pay the state hospitality tax. That means that all the taxes paid for the first 31 days are to be refunded, and no further taxes are to be collected from the same guest in the same room for subsequent nights rented during this consecutive stay. Because of the technicalities regarding early checkout and refunds on tax exempt rooms, we do not process the tax exemption until AFTER the 31st day. But this has led to an odd situation in which the guest is either given a credit for additional nights or we must process a tender refund for the amount of several hundred dollars, which we probably wouldn't be able to offer in one installment since it's our policy to only keep a small amount of cash on hand.

The guest in question was struggling to make payments after 27 days and I noticed an opportunity to apply his tax-exempt status in advance. If he could come up with a $30 payment and make an agreement not to checkout before the end of his 31st consecutive night, I could apply his back-paid taxes for future nights. In reality it was only an accounting maneuver: I used knowledge of this law and the good faith I had with this customer to transfer "virtual money" (as my dad would say) from the TAXES column to the LODGING INCOME column.

It was nothing illegal or unethical, perhaps a bit questionable regarding the guest's promise not to check out before his 31st night. All in all, I firmly believe it was a good business practice, albeit an uncommon choice. I figured as long as no one went poking around in the tax exempt folder between today and April 7th, all would be good. And then my boss came in.

Somehow, he knows always knows EXACTLY when I'm about to use he restroom and when I'm processing tax exempt statuses, and today he caught me doing both. At first, my boss glossed over the details on this particular room until he noticed the checkout day was 3 days in advance. He grilled me on why I made the decision without consulting him first, and when he was done yelling he let me say my peace. The meat of my argument was in favor of the guest considering his struggling finances, and that it was in our interest as a business to allow an early tax exempt with a 31-day promise so that the tax money would become our lodging income instead of being sent to the State Treasury Department at the end of the financial quarter.

I won the argument, hands down. And I was most proud of myself knowing that I wasn't fighting on behalf of the business and our lodging income, I was fighting to help out a man I hardly know stay in his room a few more nights without making him have to choose between a place to sleep or a meal to eat.

Now, if only I could convey this on my résumé without coming off as a bleeding heart or a pushover. I really am good at what I do.