The Business with Coworkers

Many times in hospitality, there is more of an issue with coworkers than actual guests. This is probably due to the fact that we see each other every single day and before long you're fighting and eventually this leads to either ignoring said person or plotting revenge. In this particular instance, I regret to say that the latter happened.

I am generally not a vengeful person. I like to walk into most situations giving everyone the benefit of the doubt. I am a member of the "innocent until proven guilty" school. There are times when I feel like I graduated Summa Cum Laude of my class. I believe that compartmentalizing is essential in human relations. However, despite these traits, every once in a while there is one person that rubs me in such a wrong way that I want to do something to him/her that demonstrates exactly what my emotions are toward the person in question. This particular person still stands out to this day and if I ever see him I'm sure that the confrontation would not be pretty. I don't hold a grudge very often but I'd like to think that when I do, I am justified in doing so.

I am certain that all of you have met someone throughout the course of your life that thinks that he/she can get away with everything. In this story, that guy's name will be "Jerkface". Because he was. I am going to be diplomatic. Let me give you a few facts about Jerkface before I let my opinions sway you:

Jerkface was perfectly charming when he first started working at my hotel. I had just been promoted to the position of Front Desk Lead and was very excited at having my first management job. I didn't exactly have a whole lot of authority but it kind of made me feel like I was moving up in the world. Whatever, don't judge me. I was 19 at the time.

Anyway, back to Jerkface. He initially seemed so fun that I invited him to hang out with myself and some of my girlfriends after work one day. Naturally, one of my friends took a shine to him and they hit it off immediately. They went out on a few dates, hung out constantly, talked on the phone, he bought her flowers, she made him dinner, there were several sleepovers at her house, yadda yadda yadda. Really, the whole nine. Jerkface and I were cool at work and he was considerate, polite and really a true gentleman. Everything seemed to be going just swimmingly for about a week, maybe two at the most. Until I realized that Jerkface had a live-in girlfriend. With whom he owned a dog. A pug, to be exact. This is really when the proverbial shit hit the fan.

Immediately, I phoned my lady to tell her what I just figured out. My friend was outraged to say the least. At first she was a little angry with me but then I explained how I had absolutely NO idea that Jerkface was in a relationship. The only reason I did know is because his girlfriend trotted into the hotel one afternoon because he had forgotten his lunch she packed for him. She seemed pleasant enough and told Jerkface that she liked me so much that "We should totally have her over for dinner one night, sweetie! LOLZ!!#!*" Awkward. Maybe now wasn't the perfect time to tell her that I'd set up her less than faithful "sweetie" with one of my good friends. Needless to say, I have a soul and therefore declined her generous offer.

My friend considered hanging out with Jerkface as "just friends" after she found out that he was spoken for. He kept claiming that he cared more about her than he did his girlfriend and he really wanted to break up with her so he could be with my friend. Led on by the prospect that one day they would be together in a blissful, carefree relationship, my poor friend continued to see him. After several weeks of going back and forth about the whole issue, she realized that it just couldn't happen and she was done. She told Jerkface that she knew he wasn't going to leave his girlfriend for her and she couldn't keep the farce alive any longer. She didn't want to see him anymore and that was the end of it. Or so we thought.

Jerkface was then thrown into a fitful, jealous hurricane of rage that I couldn't have spotted brewing off the coast even if I was using Doppler radar. He proceeded to stalk my poor friend that was trying to move on with her life. He actually broke into her apartment one time and she threatened to call the cops so he rushed out. She called me crying, not knowing what else to do. Although I definitely knew better than to a) get involved in the whole ridiculous situation and b) let my work and private lives intermingle, I was so deeply rooted in this situation that I felt a strong obligation to assist my friend in her time of need. I approached Jerkface at work and very reasonably told him that I thought he should leave her alone because he was scaring her. Looking back, I guess he percieved this as some sort of challenge and he brought his crazy to work. Oh lord, did he ever. One day, he actually had sex with one of my coworkers in the bell closet. I found this out way after the fact and because I had no real proof there wasn't anything that I could do to vindicate him. Honestly, what kept running through my head is that I would have been in just as much trouble as him if I knew and hadn't told my manager.

At this point, I was beginning to lose all respect for Jerkface and our friendly work relationship came to a screeching halt. I didn't exactly abhor him at this point but I certainly didn't like him and never invited him to any activites outside of work. One thing I will say about him is that he was extremely intelligent in some ways. He knew instantly that a) I didn't like him anymore (What can I say? I'm an open book.) and b) he could get under my skin just enough to annoy me because he knew that I didn't have the authority to fire him. I distinctly remember one shift where I was the MOD (manager on duty). I radioed him from the front desk asking him to bring luggage up to a room (he was a bellman, incidentally) and he actually had the nerve to radio back to me, so that everyone in the building with a radio could hear I might add, "Whatever you say, MO-double d."

Excuse me? Did I hear right? I understand that I am probably more endowed than most but seriously? I radioed him again, this time saying that I wanted to have a word with him in private. I explained to him that I may not have the authority to fire him but I was his manager and saying something that disrespectful to me is not only completely unwarranted but extremely offensive. And that I would be reporting it to our GM. I was seething but this actually was the most mild thing he did during his tirade. I have saved the worst for last, I'm afraid.

One of my favorite coworkers was an older gentleman that was the manager of the maintenance department. He had a reputation for being extremely likable and doing a great job at whatever task he took on. One night, he was walking out to his car and saw Jerkface in his uniform, still on the clock, talking with some younger guests by their car. Greg, as I will refer to this coworker, saw money and a bag being exchanged between Jerkface and the guests. Greg waited for the guests to go upstairs and confronted Jerkface about what he saw. Of course, Jerkface denied anything happening and told Greg that he must have been seeing things. Greg told me what happened and I decided to investigate further. I asked around among other employees to see what they knew (because at this point Jerkface was a pariah and about 90% of my coworkers, myself included, were looking for any excuse to get him fired). What I found out wasn't all that surprising given his recent behavior. One of the other bellman told me that what he sold those guests was actually crack cocaine. And that he had done it before. It was enough to have our general manager give him the dreaded pink slip. He was actually told upon being let go that he was not allowed on premises for any circumstance whatsoever and that we would be mailing him his last paycheck to ensure he never came on property again.

I assumed that we were over and done with the entire situation. Not wanting to be involved in any more workplace drama, the building went back to normal. He was really the only coworker that anyone had a problem with so the entire mood of the hotel actually improved upon his departure. About 2 weeks went by. The mood was so jovial at the hotel that we actually all let our guard down a bit. I did explain before that Jerkface was actually crazy and irrational, correct? I thought so. Just wanted to re-state the obvious. Who walks in the door one night when I'm the MOD yet again and sits down in our lounge with one of his slimy buddies? I'm sure you know where this is going. I hesitated about 30 seconds and weighed my options.

1. I could calmly walk into the lounge and confront him
2. I could call over to the bartender and ask him not to serve him, hoping that would force him to leave
3. I could call the police

I wonder which one I chose.

About 2 minutes later, the officer showed up and escorted him out of the building. I figured it was the option that was completely warranted and involved me the least. I didn't want to be provoked by him in any way and I certainly didn't want to lose my cool and get into an altercation at work. I'm sure that would have happened had I walked into the lounge and told him he wasn't welcome. Like I said, I'm not usually a vengeful person. But Jerkface had crossed the line for the last time.

Although I do get a good laugh from the whole situation nowadays, it was completely draining at the time. Given the choice, I prefer to be uninvolved in drama. It takes up too much time and life is too short to be in weird social situations, especially with people that I see every day. Lesson learned, don't ever play where you get paid.