Good Versus Evil

Checked the e-mail this morning and here is the latest phishing scam. "Hubbell Funeral" home is notifying me of the death of my "beloved friend." Now all I have to do is click on a link they so thoughtfully provided and I have male ware on my computer. You have to hand it to those hackers in Bulgaria (I know this one isn't from Nigeria because there are no misspellings). Always coming up with a new angle to compromise our computers.  See here.

Here is the e-mail I got this morning:

Ah yes, the Evil Ones never give up do they?  Roll over and play dead for the bastards.  One has to be ever vigilant. There are those in this world who are kind and productive and helpful and then there are those who are unkind, unproductive and work all their waking hours to destroy and take from those they consider weak and trusting.  That's the world folks, since the beginning of time.  A constant struggle between Good an Evil.  

You know folks, there are too many in this world who are all too ready to pass judgment on their fellow human beings.  From that ridiculous law that was just vetoed in Arizona that was going to legalize discrimination against The Gays to "protect religious freedom" to the murderers who walk among us, there is evil all around us clothed in so called "religious freedom."  The irony is that if those who are all too quick to condemn actually practiced the peaceful tenants of their religion, we wouldn't have the harm that is done in this world under the guise of "religious freedom."  So there I go again folks, off on another tangent from a simple evil act like someone trying to destroy my computer by a phishing scam.  But when I see something like this first thing in the morning and then encounter similar situations all during the day whether it be politicians blatantly lying and taking us into unnecessary wars, and voting against our own interests to the all too many businesses that lie to us attempting more sophisticated ways of making us part with our hard earned money.  Sometimes it is very difficult not to become mired in cynicism.  

But this one thing I know, I know myself what I am.  I do not wake up each day trying to figure out how to do someone out of something.  Trying to figure out how to harm someone.  No folks, I when I get up my goal during the day is to step through the minefield of those who seek to harm me in my quest to do good in this world.  And that doesn't mean being taking advantage of by those who wish me ill. By those people who are jealous of me. By those people who are envious of me. By those people who don't respect me.  By those people who don't like me. By those people who consider me "less than."  That means having a relationship with those who wish me well as they do with the rest of the world and as I wish them well.  And that to me folks is my daily challenge and has been for all these years I've been on this earth.  

Thus it is refreshing in a somewhat weird way to wake up this morning and the first thing I see is yet another Evil Doer trying to do harm.  But it is a shame isn't it?  One good thing about dying, that's when this crap ends.  

The Creep in the Lobby

Vulnerable

As regular readers of this blog know I work part-time as a front desk clerk at a small, upscale boutique hotel in Lewes.  I meet and deal with a lot of people in my position as front desk clerk.  Almost all of the guests (as we in the hospitality business call our "customers") are fine folk.  In fact, that is one of the main reasons I like working in a hotel, I get to meet a lot of nice people.  But, every now and then there appears before me a truly malevolent, evil person.  I can spot them right away.  They are humorless.  A smile has never crossed their faces.  They look at you like you like you just crawled out of an outhouse poop pit.  Nothing and I mean NOTHING I do will please this kind of person.  They exist only to make other people's lives as miserable as their own.  When I check in one of these guests, I KNOW that they will not leave me or the front desk alone.  They are demanding, they are rude, they are evil.

This week I worked Monday night.  THAT guest sat for hours in the lobby, starring at me.  He was creeping me out.  What does he want?  He wants water.  He can't speak English and get mad at me because I don't understand him.  He leaves big greasy handprints on the glass topped table in the lobby and the glass door.  He leave black dirt marks on the rug.  He leaves the newspapers spread all over the table.  He's a pig.

At the end of my shift I have to vacuum the lobby and mop the tile floors.  I waited and waited for him to leave.  Nothing.  He just glared at me, creeping me out big time.  So I finally decided to get my WET FLOOR sign and put it on the floor.  After about fifteen minutes of a really evil glare, he FINALLY went to the elevator and up to his room.

Well, I thought "At least when I go back to work Thursday night he'll be gone."  That's one of the nice things about working in a hotel, when you do get a Nasty like this, they eventually leave.

So guess what happens when I went in last night.  HE'S THERE AGAIN!  Same routine, he's sitting in the lobby with his wife-beater T-shirt (a dingy tank top like the ones you see on "Cops" when the cops arrest the drunk husbands who beat their wives - they're always wearing those greasy, sweaty, frayed dingy white T-shirts), grungy shorts and BLACK DRESS SHOES with WHITE SOCKS (these guys never know how to color coordinate). He's glaring again.  For hours he sits in the lobby, creeping out the other guests who walk through the lobby.  WTF?

He asks me a question.  I didn't understand a word he said.  I think he's Albanian or Russian or something like that by his name.  I never saw a name spelled like that.  I didn't understand his accent at all.  He was standing too close to me, invading my space.  Do I need this?  He grunts again.  I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HE IS SAYING.  Now I'm getting irritated.  Actually, I'm getting mad.  Careful Ron, be professional.  I think he is coming on to me.  I can't believe it.

I finally figured out he wanted to make sure the water I was getting him was cold.  I don't know how I figured that out other than by process of elimination.  Speakie Engie?

Man oh man.  I get his two bottle of COLD water.  I pressed it to his bar arm to show him it was cold but he failed to see the humor in my gesture. I looked at his pasty arm where I pressed the cold bottle of water and wished I hadn't.  What if he thought I was coming on to him?!?

Thank God he didn't.  He went back to armchair he was fouling sitting in the lobby.  I went back to the front desk and tried not to think of him sitting there creeping out anyone who walked through the lobby. Finally, FINALLY he left (after a couple more hours) and went to his room.  I went into the lobby and cleaned up his mess.  Two bottles on the glass top table, newspapers strewn about and greasy paw prints on the table.  Lovely, just lovely.

I go back to work Monday.  He will be gone.

NEXT!