The Family Bed

Our summer vacation this year started on a low note. After a hectic work day and the official end of summer camp, we packed up our bags and hit the road for a nine day trip to New England. First stop, Mystic Connecticut. We arrived pretty late (around 9pm) and while the hotel we were staying at was supposed to have tons of amenities...like a bellman to take our stuff to our room, no one came out to greet us. And so, with two hungry kids, we lugged about 10 bags into the hotel lobby. We then saw the valet who said "Oh, you need help? Here's a suitcase trolley - just bring it back when you're done with it." My husband at this point was obviously annoyed but the frustration didn't end there. When we opened the door to our room we noticed a glaring oversight. There was one bed in the room, but we were travelling with two kids who are finally used to sleeping by themselves. We immediately called down to the front desk to advise them of their error in not putting us in a room with two mattresses, and the concierge explained that they had no way of reaching us to tell us that they didn't have a room available with twin beds. Hmmm...that's a likely story, considering I booked our vacation online and entered everything except my social security number into their list of questions to approve my booking. When we went downstairs to complain in person, the woman behind the desk insisted on telling us she had no way of reaching us. At this point we were fuming, and told them they better get us two rollaway beds pronto. Problem was, they could only send one since two would be against the fire code. Of course. We walked back up to our room and saw the rollaway hanging outside our door - far be it from this luxury family friendly hotel to actually wheel it inside and set it up for us at 10 o'clock at night. No, I told my kids to move out of the way and then proceeded to set it up myself. But it gets better. My daughter went to the bathroom and noticed that someone had literally rubbed an indelible mark into the toilet seat and the bathtub. Plus, when I went to turn on a lamp to read, it was broken. When we went down to the desk the following morning to complain, surprise, the hotel manager wasn't there - even though she was supposed to report for duty at 9am and we were lingering by the concierge desk at 9:20am. Determined to make the best of the situation, we set out for a fun-filled day in Mystic - luckily, by the time we returned, there was a new room awaiting us with two double beds, clean tub and toilet and working lamps. At least they got it right in time for us to leave for our next destination.

Color Me Stupid...

Passed by an expensive children's store today that appeared to be bustling with pony-tailed preppy moms on the lookout for the latest overpriced pinafore for their precious pixie. While the place was jam-packed and obviously making lots of sales, what caught my eye was the fact that the owner decided to provide a children's activity in the entranceway while the moms shopped inside. Before you set foot into the store, you could deposit your child at a round table complete with coloring books and crayons. Nice idea, but here's the problem. No one was on hand to supervise in case a three-year-old dropped her chartreuse crayola, it rolled under the table, out on the sidewalk and into the street that was filled with oncoming traffic. Who puts a kiddy table out on a sidewalk near a busy intersection with lots of cars just so that moms won't be distracted when they plunk down a huge chunk of change on their incredibly expensive offerings? I know it's hard to shop with young kids, but leaving them outside while you go inside to mingle with friends? If that's not a fashion faux pas, I don't know what is.

Drowsy at the Drugstore

Another priceless service industry encounter today at the local pharmacy. The place was pretty much empty on a Sunday afternoon, so I leisurely strolled through the aisles finding all my items and then made my way to the register where I was the first in line to be waited upon. Little did I know that I was about to be greeted by a cashier I'd like to call Drowsy, a close relative of one of the Seven Dwarfs. For the next five minutes while she rang up my order, she must have told her colleague at least two dozen times, "I am so tired. I can't do this anymore. I just want to go to sleep." It became so annoying that I was about to start ringing up my purchases by myself. Do I really need to know that you didn't get enough sleep last night and the very thought of interacting with the public bores you to death? I think not. If you're that tired, then get yourself a can of coke or take a break. Trust me, the last thing a customer wants to hear is that you don't feel like waiting on anyone because, you're too darn sleepy. I'm pretty much running on fumes since my son slept in my bed last night, yet I still went food shopping, hit the gym, ran some more errands, returned a few blackberry emails and broke up several fights and it's only 4:30 pm. So honey, spare me the "I'm so sleepy routine" until you have kids too!