So I'm sitting here watching TV Guide waiting for My Life on the D-List and they are running yet another rerun of their "Father Doesn't Know Best" show or some shit like that. Last time I checked Father's Day was like two days ago so I think it's about time to start finding another show to run every hour on the hour. Of course speaking of Father's Day, I can't help but think of my own situation. Now I actually didn't even realize the day had come until Saturday. Could do with the fact that I haven't spoken to my father in about 2 years. I don't know what he's up to nowadays but I am fine with that. We have had such a tumultuous relationship over the years and I am finally getting my peace. Not many people know the history we have so here is a brief summary... Back when I was 14 my nosey ex-stepwitch (aka stepmother) somehow snooped through my belongings during one of my visits to her and my dad's home. There she found a letter I had written to a boy I had been crushing on in high school (I had just completed my freshman year). Needless to say the gay was let out the closet and all hell had broken loose. The conversation we had was about as pretty as my dad's wife at that time so I knew I was in store for some trouble. So sadly I was plucked from my comfortable life in Baldwin Park and shipped out to the wonderful country known as "The OC". I mean talk about a culture shock. I went from a school that was 90% Latinos to a school that was 90% whites! It's like being at the mall at an Anchor Blue and finding a Banana Republic next door... total WTF moment. Of course I had the worst time fitting in but even more so found it extremely hard being myself. You see, my dad and his wife were Power Christians (Seventh-Day Adventists to be exact) and they must have been on a power trip cause those two musta been trippin if they thought I was going to conform to their ways. Now cue the countdown to my breakdown, or breakthrough... same difference. During this mess of 3 years I lived a pretty rough life. I was not allowed to watch TV (unless it as on Pax TV), talk on the phone, use the computer (unless for school work), or have any friends over. At least 3 of those were torture. How is a boy supposed to go through puberty without the fundamentals? Oy vay! I often wondered how I would make it through. And luckily for me, just like every conservative Christian group out there, the family broke once again. Isn't it always interesting that the people who preach about family values the most tend to stray away from their own message? It didn't take a magnifying glass to read through those lines. But even so... when they did separate and I moved in with my dad things were far from better. He still wanted to be in control and tell me what to do and I couldn't take it. After the 2nd time he and I lived together I decided that was it. I had already officially come out to him (February 8th 2004 is my anniversary) and there was no backing down... backing up maybe but that's my business ;-). So I called him one day randomly and laid into him that I this is who I am. I am a gay man. And if he cannot accept that part of my life then we have no reason to talk. I refuse to be put back in the closet for the sake of one person. I don't live my life for him, or anyone else but myself. After several failed attempts at reviving our relationship it dawned on me two years ago that I was dealing with an unchanged person. At 47 years old at the time he had already gone through 3 marriages, 3 divorces, 3 kids (one who we didn't even know about until our trip to El Salvador in 2001) and 3 kids who to this day refuse to speak to him (this now includes my half sister Jenny who is not his daughter but grew up with him). I mean good lawd, if this man were to play Roulette I would venture to guess odd numbers would NOT be in his favor. But believe me, it has been a hard journey for myself too. In all this time I have tried learning more and more about myself and accepting my sexuality as well. I feel as though it's improving but I have a long way to go, I know that for sure. But my whole family knows, and everyone has been so lovingly accepting of it and I couldn't ask for anything more. I have learned to let go of that past and forgiven him for all that I went through. I no longer "hate" him for the person he is, because I know is the person he has chosen to be and for better or worse I have to accept that lifestyle choice too. Will I ever hear from him again? Only time will tell but let's just say it's not exactly one of my top priorities. Viva La Gay! :-)
Okay so now getting on to the good stuff. So the reason why I chose to do a blog is because I always run into interesting and hilarious situations at work... or rather hilarious and interesting people at work. Before I started work at the Good Nite Inn I actually had (if you can believe this) a heart. I am not saying I was a saint because believe me I am far from that (excuse me while I tend to my side) but I did see things through a different scope. Now after one year it ceases to amaze me how incredibly stupid some people can be. They say there is no such thing as a stupid question... uhhh apparently they haven't met our guests. Not a day goes by that someone enters the running to be America's Next Top Buffoon. Sorry, no Covergirl contract for you! I could list all the different situations but I think I'll just post as they come along - at least until my departure from the hotel (synchronizes watch to countdown). For instance, when someone makes a reservation under a particular person's name, it amazes me that people have a hard time understanding that only THAT person can check-into the reservation. I don't care if you're the dad, mother, son-in-law, wife, or CAT of the guest... just like an exclusive party if yo' name ain't on the list you ain't gettin in *snap*! Strangely enough this has been happening a lot more frequently and man it's a pain in the ass. Cause then you have to explain to the guest why you can't check them in, and even when you explain to them what they need to do to be able to check in they still get up in your face. Case in point... the other day this old broad came in to check in. Of COURSE it was under her husband's name so I knew I would be in for a treat. It was already late at night so you know my nerves were more worked than Britney's weave. So I explained to her really calmly that her name was not on the reservation and she needed to call Hotwire and have them add her name on it. Simple. Right? Wrong. Then this a-hole comes up and apparently thought that I was talking to him to so he took it upon himself to yell at me and say that I am not being helpful and that I need to let her in. So right about this time my blood had not boiled yet so I remained calm still and repeated myself to him so that he could get on board. Now one thing (out of many things) I don't like is being interrupted. If you look closely you can sometimes see my eye twitching when someone does because you know it's only a matter of time before my wig flies off. So of course the idiot did not understand my explanation... I don't know how to translate to douche so he was out of luck. And freetranslation.com does not carry that format so I was out of luck. So again I tried explaining to him very slowly what they needed to do and as I am doing so this fucker decides to interrupt me again and tell me what I need to do. Oh I'm sorry, I didn't see your Good Nite Inn bowling shirt so maybe that's why I wasn't following you... ASS. And I snapped! I interrupted HIM and told him "Sir! Please stop talking so that I could explain to you once again". They both looked at me as though I just threatened to break a table on their faces. Well I wasn't to that point JUST yet but I was close. I was just laughing inside at how in this whole argument I am telling them EXACTLY what they need to do and they somehow they accused me of not helping. Luckily the lobby doors were locked and this was all done at the night window so I could easily sashay away with grace and dignity... cause you know I am always thinking WWTD (What Would Tyra Do?). Certainly not THIS. And then, because really not enough people were involved in this situation, the daughter comes up and decides to take a turn at wacking me. Her approach was this: "Let me talk to you like a human being so that you could understand what we are saying". Yes she went there. So since I must have left my switch on "Robot", I took a deep breath and responded back "Well first of all I AM human and I do understand what you all are saying. So let me say this one more time so that you can understand me"... Yes I went there. Chris had officially left the building in his place was LaKelly who is not going to bat a lash for this shit. I was pretty much done and over with this crap and I had only been on shift for a half hour. Ugh. I left them to their own device and sure enough the husband calls me. I regretted not recording my previous statements so that I could play it for him rather than repeat myself for the millionth time. Surprisingly he seemed to completely get what I was saying. So maybe that was it. I should have been talking to these people through a phone so that they could understand me. Robo-Chris is no good through a prison visitor-glass window like.. window (don't judge me). So crisis was finally averted and thankfully this wouldn't be the night I would be kicking an old lady to the curb. Maybe next time but the lesson to be learned is not that if you make a reservation you should put it in the name of the actual individual checking in. No, the real lesson should be learned that if someone makes a reservation online for someone else, they should read the fine print that says to warn them about checking in with Chris. The customer is always right? Yeah the jury is still out on that verdict. Sidenote, maybe I am a robot since apparently I seem to model myself after THIS GUY.
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