Meet Sparrow, an average man passing an average life…
Monday, June 25
At 0630 this morning I’m farting around at the front desk when 115 calls to request a plunger.
Crap…Recall the last time a room requested a plunger I couldn’t produce one but this time Pam the breakfast attendant is here so I ask her and it turns out she knows where it is, hidden in a plastic bag in between the washers and the dryers in the maid’s room, which is where Pam also prepares breakfast.
Crap times two because, you know, they’re not requesting a plunger so they can fill out their guest survey…Their toilet is clogged…Sometimes you get off easy and it isn’t too gross and sometimes you do not get off easy and it’s really gross, but this was about halfway and the plunger does its work well and quickly and the toilet is fit for duty again…I take the plunger back to the maid’s room and rinse it off in the utility sink right next to the food prep area which probably is not completely in step with the latest guidelines from the Health Department, but I am not really burdened with options here and besides, I didn’t have their latest guidelines in front of me anyway.
We are really shorthanded at Hotel B…Kathy has left, as planned…She and her man Mikey are going to Wisconsin, still working for the chain…David is gone, too, which was not planned, except by David who has never been particularly pleased with the way things are run here…He left a really long entry in the logbook, hardly his first, and it’s too bad because he’s personable and has a knack for the lodging business.
We also don’t have a maintenance guy…Jimmy left in a huff a couple-three weeks ago and GM Adam said don’t hold your breath on finding a replacement because there haven’t been any applicants.
I’m scheduled for a couple of shifts at the retailer this week at times when I am not available, and I went and talked with Felicia and Hadassah, two assistant managers, about this…You’ve got to be careful about here and make them respect your availability because if you don’t nip this in the bud the next thing you know you’re availability doesn’t mean squat and they’re working you whenever the hell they want.
As it was, I got out of the shifts that fell outside my availability, but I ended up taking it in the shorts, too…Originally, I was scheduled for 1800 shifts both Wednesday and Thursday…I am not available after 1800 Wednesdays and not at all on Thursdays because regular readers of this crap may – or they may not – recall that I blocked out Thursdays so I could get a day off…Honestly, I was hoping to get Wednesday off but Felicia offered me a 0800-1700 shift on Wednesday, which was not what I had in mind at all…However, that falls within my availability, so you can’t really say no here so I agreed to it, the best laid plans of mice and Sparrow and all that.
A poignant moment at the retailer tonight…I worked Aisle 5 all night and about halfway thru a young couple comes thru, one of their purchases being a belt…Standing behind them a ways is an older gentleman who appears to be drunk, tho I don’t think he was, I think dementia had started in on its journey because he reminded me of Pa Sparrow towards the end of his life…I had the impression the gentleman was on his own but the couple both addressed him as Dad and waved for him to join them then they both, with a great deal of care, but the belt on him, which reminded me of cutting Pa Sparrow’s meat for him towards the end of his life.
Later I’m checking a couple of women out when one of them asked if I used to work for the Doily Delivery Company, a name really long-time readers of this crap will remember…I look at her and said yeah and asked how she knew because I didn’t recognize her from any of the stops and then it hit me, she was Ivy, the one whose injuries in a crash forced her to quit, which opened up a job for me…I saw the in-truck video of the crash and she got lucky…Her driver, who was fired, was driving entirely too fast for the prevailing, wintry conditions and they were both lucky to have survived…Ivy reported physically she had healed, but mentally she still suffered from occasional short-term memory loss.
Sparrow’s Sleep Log: 0815 Monday until 1530 Monday…My first decent rest in awhile…I was exhausted and in bed before 0800 and I read about five words of my Alexander Hamilton biography before saying screw it and shutting down for a days rest.
The Diary of a Nobody is a novel. All elements are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Anything else is a coincidence.
The Diary of a Nobody was inspired by the 19th century British novel of the same name.
Read Gaylon’s latest: We The People: Making America America Again at www.GaylonKent.com
