Sil Hattaavah

An Olive Kotov Chapter Series

Dear Diary, I’m going to miss my wikalicious coworkers. They are all pretty amazing. I feel like I am abandoning them, but I have been worrying about the team and sacrificing myself far too long. It is time for me to take care of myself.

I thought it was all because of matilda that I was not too fond of it there, but it was not only her. She has been permanently gone for months, and I am still so unhappy; it is my very most unfavourite place.

It has literally been making me sick. I assumed I had another gallbladder attack recently, but I detoxed with lemon charcoal, and it didn’t help like it usually does. So I concluded that it was not my gallbladder.

I decided to try some apple cider vinegar with the mother. Low and behold, it felt better for about twelve hours. I have a stomach ulcer! I believe it is at least 75% the fault of work stress. It was so bad the last few mornings that it was making me nauseous.

Every day I work, I get a gnarly sinus headache by about 1300 hours, most certainly from the vents. On days that I didn’t work? None. This has been happening regularly for quite a while.

It took much deliberation to decide whether to stay or go upon the company change over. Cons far outweighed the pros in staying. The nail in the coffin was this.

I took a vacation at the end of last year, requesting fifty-four hours; it was approved by management. I had ninety-four hours available according to my pay stub and the time system on the clock-in computer; I was paid for twelve!

I didn’t find out until I got paid after returning in January when I barely received a check. I contacted HR and sent them copies of my requested and approved hours and pay stub, also showing I had 94 hours (which were not on my current paystub as of my contact with HR).

I requested the hours; they were approved in the management system, and I paid no attention to it after they were approved. Why would I? Why would anyone?

Other people had their max hours appear as well. I assumed they changed the vacation time to more like TJ’s, where it all goes on on a specific day of the year, and you have twelve months to use it or lose it rather than accumulation over time. Corporate previously said changes were coming; it made complete sense.

Yea-yea, I know what TJ says about assuming, “assumption makes an ass of oneself.” Well, I got my just desert, right?

The system will not let you request days off if you don’t have the hours available, period. You cannot even request a day off without pay if you don’t have available hours. So if you need to ensure you have a regular day off for something important, you must tell the manager and keep reminding them to be sure you are not accidentally scheduled.

Let me say my schedule has been the same for years. But I tell you what, every single time I needed to have a typical day off—for something and forgot to request it off, something happened, and I’d end up getting scheduled for that day! No joke.

Anyway, I had not heard anything back from HR until I contacted them late last month. She replied and stated that she sent a report to the payroll system programmers about its glitch. She said there is nothing she can do about it and apologized for any inconvenience it may have caused.

She then informed me that I need to be more careful when requesting time off and not ask for the time I don’t have. WHAT?! She’s telling me their error is my fault. Seriously?

That was it that made my decision. Moving to a new company is not the right choice for me. This blatant disregard for what is right is a sign for me to run. I know I can do better; I’ve learned. I was just too scared—time to spread my wings and fly.

Since I decided, I have had zero regrets. Things keep happening, reiterating that I chose the correct path. It’s like God is making sure I don’t ignore the signs.

I’m going to work on getting myself into school for creative writing and work on my professional bodybuilding goals. Though I have been doing it for headed to eleven years, hospitality is not for me.

No more being yelled at by people because their mommy didn’t pay for their room or the rez center or 3rd party booked the wrong room type. The rez center doesn’t charge cards when making reservations, which is a common misconception by guests. They think we’re double charging them and don’t want to pay.

No more bowing down to the wankers looking for a freebie with lies because “the guest is always right,” and we have to kiss their feet no matter how mean or rude they are to us. They’re right; we’re wrong. It’s infuriating.

The wifi sucks; there is no shampoo or coffee in the room, no pastries in the lobby; it’s not a fucking Hilton, but that’s what they expect. There is also no store within walking distance, that is our fault as a desk clerk.

No more surveys from disgruntled guests—dictating what our job ethic and effort are by giving us crappy scores: Hot tub being down, housekeeping issues, maintenance issues, check-in issues because the tablets freeze (which were never intended for business use in the first place). But to the guest, we’re the incompetent ones trying to check them in.

The end of a scoring system directly reflecting our personal score, which has nothing to do with our actual friendliness or work ethic, or even anything within our control. But it certainly justifies little to no raises in the eyes of a corporation that sees us as numbers. 

Some travel agencies tell guests that we have a pool, exercise room, complimentary breakfast, et cetera. that’s who., They post pictures of suites as standard rooms and even images that aren’t our rooms. Who gets the angry guest? The desk clerks, that’s who.

Don’t get me wrong; some good people stay there.  But there is not enough good to outweigh the bad. No more getting paid barely over minimum wage, to be treated like shit by self-entitled assholes.

Maybe I can finally forget about that crazy psycho, Sean. I worried about him coming back; it’s been two years, maybe three, but I’m still terrified of him. He was insane, utterly sick in the head.

There is no more worrying about staffing shortages, machines breaking down, coffee pots exploding on me, guest catastrophes, being robbed, diseases, and germs.

No more homeless destroying rooms, defecating and urinating all over everything except in the toilet, ruining beds, and forcing us to put spaces down, therefore getting us in trouble with the corporation for having rooms down.

No more tweakzombies ripping mirrors off walls to do lines or leaving needles under mattresses, in towel shelves, and the back of toilets. Having traffic at all hours of the night bothering other guests, just being the pieces of shit that they are.

The people who bought the motel flip houses, doubtful they know anything about running a motel. They have money signs in their eyes, mercenariness.

Health insurance plans are doubling in rate with no fewer copays, maybe higher. Pretty sure they don’t match your 401k, and raises will likely cease. Who knows if they’ll even keep people not making minimum wage very long.

They already made them sign a contract stating there is no guarantee they’ll have a job once 90 days pass. They can be fired at any time after that with no reason or penalties, and the employee can’t do anything about it. Not even confident they can get unemployment if that happens—zero job security: corporate greed.

What I’m trying to say is that I did not make my decision lightly….and I pray my now ex-coworkers are okay, that either they get to keep their jobs or find something better that deserves them.

Here’s to a new chapter in my life!

Until next time, Olive Kotov.