Pet Peeves!

GRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHGGGRRRRAAAAGGGHHHHHHH!

That's a scream of frustration.....

There are just so many things in this world that get on my nerves! I know that in life, you shouldn't let the little things get to you. But I'm having a really really hard time with that. I try so hard to be positive and optimistic, and I have been until about 7 months ago. Now, my hormones are going crazy and my patience is very low. A lot of it has to do with my job. Ok, 90% of it is my job. (Don't worry my last day here is just a month and a couple weeks away, and I will never come back to the industry again, unless of course I go to the place that started it all: Hampton Inn Brevard.) So I'm just going to vent here, even though I have vented a lot on Facebook Notes.

I'll start with my number one pet peeve:

1. BEING INTERRUPTED.
*sigh* I guess the whole concept of "raising your hand to speak" has been tossed out the window. In fact, I think "RESPECT" has been completely tossed out the window in general. Wouldn't you agree? I mean people these days just don't have any respect for each other in general.  But I digress; the respect subject is for a different time. But really, when I'm talking, you don't. I don't expect you to actually raise your hand, that would just be weird. We aren't in school. But most people love it when other people finish their sentences. Well, NOT me. Unless of course you're my husband. And I only have one of those, or you're someone who is very close to me who probably has an idea of what I'm talking about. It's just so rude to me! And on a deeper level, I hate it when people interrupt me by asking a question of which what I'm talking about will answer that question.
ex: "Thank you for calling Embassy Suites La---" "Is this the Lake Buena Vista one?" "Yes it is." "Ok, and who am I speaking to?" "My name is Cecelia."
Now, if that person had just waited another 5 seconds, which is the polite thing to do, to let me completely finish my greeting that I am paid to say, BOTH of those questions they had just asked me would have been answered at the same time.
i.e.: "Thank you for calling Embassy Suites Lake Buena Vista. This is Cecelia, how may I help you?"
See? Now this whole asking a question before I'm done explaining thing happens alll the time at work. This is a normal check-in dialogue:
"Hello, welcome to Embassy. Are you checking in?
"Yes, my last name is ------"Yes, Mr./Mrs. ----, we have been expecting you. I see you have a --- suite for --- nights?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Okay perfect, I just need to see an ID and a credit card please."
*guest hands over items*
"Thank you, Mr./Mrs ---. And how many keys will you need? "
"2 please"
*we make keys*
"Okay, Mr./Mrs.---. Now, breakfast is held from 6:30-10, and we have a happy hour every day from 5:30pm-7:30pm. That includes your free alcohol and non beverages as well as snacks. Check out is at noon. Here is a copy of the complimentary schedule to Disney. We also have a movie that plays by the pool and you will find that schedule here on the back. Here are your room keys, which is what you will need to park. This is where your room is. Since you are located on this side of the hotel, you may park in the West/East side parking lot. Do you have any other questions?"

Now, at that point would be the time for the guest to ask any questions that I haven't answered, and ask for any paperwork I haven't given him/her.  But for some reason, guests constantly ask where to park, what time breakfast is, what time the managers reception is, etc, before I even get done making the keys. Ugh. lol it just irks me to DEATH!

Another thing that drives me crazy, on the topic of interruption, (and my mother is guilty of this the most; sorry mama.) But when I'm on the phone with someone and they start talking to someone else they're with WHILE I'm in mid sentence. O my gosh that drives me bananas. So much in fact that I end up just saying "Hey, I'll just talk to you later". Obviously, I do not have your full attention, so I will talk to you when I do.

2. RUDENESS.
I have this firm belief that every person on the planet should work in the retail, hotel, food, or some kind of public service industry at least one point in there life. Realistically, that's not always possible, especially when there are a lot of people out there who inherit positions in family businesses that have nothing to do with public service. But I have this philosophy that if everyone worked in the public service industry, to kind of get a sense of what "we" go through, then maybe people would be a little more understanding and less rude.

Now, I'm just talking about my job here, but like I said, 90% of my pet peeves come from my job. It's amazing how rude people on vacation can be. I mean vacation is supposed to be a de-stresser. But if it's stressing you out THAT much to where you're being rude to the people trying to make your vacation special, maybe you shouldn't even be on it! I think people these days live in fantasy world, and when they go on vacation, reality just kinda goes out the window. Now, in a perfect world, you would be able to get a room automatically at 10:30pm, in July, in Orlando, FL, and it be the EXACT room you want at the EXACT location you wanted. But unfortunately, and this is true for any hotel, to get EXACTLY what you want, usually requires a reservation at least a week or longer in advance, depending on what type of room you want. In REALITY, there are other people with certain types of requests JUST like you that are staying in this hotel at the SAME time you are. Can you BELIEVE IT? And in reality, that room that you wanted on the 5th floor with the beautiful room by the pool is currently occupied by someone else who made their reservation 6 months ago, so NO, Mr. Walk-in-at-10:30pm on a Friday night in July in Orlando, FL, that room is not available. And it is SO amazing how RUDE and bent out of shape people are about that. 'I'm writing to your company! My family is on vacation and you're making it miserable!" Well, no, sir it's not our fault that YOU are an idiot. Go ahead and write your little letter, but you're just going to writing to write. You will not be refunded for anything. The response corporate gives you is probably just going to tick you off even more, so you probably shouldn't even write the letter in the first place. The fact that you're threatening us with a letter, really doesn't phase us the least bit because we know that this little mishap is not our fault. And the ruder you are to us, the less likely you are to get what you want, though you may think that rudeness gets you what you want. Actually, at that point, we just want you out of our face and out of our hotel. If you were in a restaurant right now, we'd probably be spitting in your food. So you're lucky.

Off my rant on rudeness at work. Let's talk about in general. When you bump into someone, it's polite to apologize and say excuse me. When you're driving, the law is to use your turn signal, and it's also polite as well.  If there is an older person or a pregnant lady in front of you in line, it is not polite to push them out of the way. It's not polite to shout at people for no good reason, especially when you're shouting at someone for a reason that is not under their control. It is not polite to call people names. When you receive a gift, the polite thing to do is to write a thank you note. I mean c'mon people you learn this stuff in grade school!  Now, I am definately not saying I am never rude because that would be a lie and a half. But always remember that Please, Thank You, and Excuse Me are necessary phrases in life. Use them!

Ok, enough of that. Onto the next one.

3. You're in America. SPEAK ENGLISH!
Okay, I'm all about people coming over and enjoying America. More power to ya! But first of all, come LEGALLY and second of all LEARN SOME ENGLISH! I wouldn't go to France or Mexico on VACATION without knowing some basics, and I certainly wouldn't move there without knowing more than basics. Now, I know that most of the immigrants here who don't know a lick of English are mostly illegal. That just makes me mad in general, but it's a different subject for a different time as well. And another thing, if you don't know english, then don't get mad at us for not knowing your language. We're in America, we speak English. The door swings both ways, you know.

4. Way too lenient parents.
*sigh* If your kid is screaming and making a scene in public, control them please. Nobody wants to hear them. If your kid is bad in public, discipline them. It drives me crazy when parents don't control their kids in public. I'll give you an example:
A month or so ago, we had a little girl who was going up to kids in the pool area and pushing them in the pool. Just random kids she didn't know. She was about 5 or 6. She was reported by a few concerned parents. When we confronted her father about it, he got angry at us and took his daughters side! Wow! "My daughter would NEVER do such things." Right. Okay. So you really think that we found you and just accused your daughter of pushing kids in the pool for our entertainment? Really? Okay.

I think that about covers it. Yup.