Tales From the Airport Hotel

In addition to being a full time student, I also work full time at the front desk of a hotel that is near my city's main airport. I gotta pay for tuition somehow! I initially applied for this job because the down time in between guest check-ins seemed like the perfect time to get homework done. And it has been.

But besides that, I absolutely love all the different types of people that I get to meet. 

Besides working the front desk, I'm also responsible for driving the shuttle to and from the airport whenever a guest needs a ride. Driving people around really creates an opportunity for conversation. Something about being trapped in a car with someone else for 15 minutes makes you wanna talk to them, I guess.

Last week, I picked up a lady from Honduras named Daisy at the airport. She had left her car parked at our hotel while she traveled, but she's back now, and she needed a ride to her car. I pull up to the airport at around 9:30pm and see a short, smiley lady in jeans and a cowboy hat. What she lacked in stature, she made up for in personality.

"Hi thank you so much I'm Daisy!" She said as she vigorously shook my hand. 

I look over and notice a man with her, which confuses me a little bit because I thought she was the only person I was picking up. She must have noticed the confusion in my face.

"This man is going to the same town as I am going to isn't that a coincidence? So I am going to give him a ride once we get back to my car is that okay?" She says, seemingly in one breath.

We get into the car and start driving toward the hotel. Daisy seems to have no problems filling the silence.

"I just met this man just now at the airport, but he's from where I am, he's from Honduras isn't that neat? And he's going to the same town I'm going to tonight so I figured I'd give him a ride I mean why not? Oooooh my boyfriend will not be happy with me though but that's okay. Am I crazy?? Oh well I just like being nice."

I don't say much, I just let her talk. She and the man talk between themselves, mostly in Spanish. We learn that our hitchhiker is a police officer and works border patrol. Learning he's a cop makes Daisy feel better. She's still worried about what her boyfriend will say, but oh well.

At the hotel, I unload their luggage. I tell them to drive safe and warn the guy that if anything happens to her, I know who did it! Daisy gives me a $10 tip, the biggest I've ever gotten from just one person.

They leave, but the story doesn't end there.

The following week, I pick up a man who also needs a ride to his car. He makes a comment about how we just picked up his girlfriend last week.

"Wait...what's her name?" I ask. It's Daisy! I tell him that I was the one who picked her up.

"Yeah, and I am STILL mad at her," he says. "She picked up some random guy and gave him a ride I mean has she lost her mind?? I just can't believe she did something so stupid!"

"So they made it to where they were going? He wasn't a psycho?" I ask.

"No, no. She's home safe now but still, that was so dumb. She's not gonna do that again."

I have so many stories from working at the hotel, and I'm sure I'll collect even more as time goes on. I'm thinking I'll make this a weekly thing, where I write about interesting things that happen at the hotel.

Next week: Someone gets trapped in the elevator!