Arrived in a small mid-western town for work almost an hour away from the airport. The hotel I had booked was closest to my meeting venue and as it turns out the most magnificent thing in this town. I was stepping in history. The building is 125 years old and so is the elevator which still works like a charm. Only that you can't ride it alone - an operator needs to accompany you. The room has been remodeled over the years but the historical touches remain. When I arrived I was told my room was not ready and I would valet check my bags, work in the lobby or walk around town as I chose. I did a bit of both and the room was still not ready and the lobby areas were full of people like me waiting to check in and trying to work while they waited.
A young woman at the front desk recommended I wait in the bar downstairs that was closed and quiet. So it was until two employees came in to discuss an HR situation with another employee in "privacy". My presence there was ignored and they proceeded as if they were alone in the room. So I ended up hearing about intra-employee feuds, some guy's mental stability being questioned, another woman being accused of stealing from the cash register and so on.
The conversation went on for a good hour and at some point it became clear why it was taking forever to check-in. There was the bad manager who was the topic of this HR discussion who was also potentially unstable and volatile. His demeanor had made a lot of employees quit and around the holiday season things took a turn for the worse. Given the low levels of staff, these two ladies discussing the HR issue were working on ways to make this woman who was threatening to quit - stay.
They were working through reasons why she may or may not agree. It was interesting how a perfect stranger from nowhere they cared about had found themselves in the thick of their intense domestic issues. I am sure most of what I heard was unknown to many that worked at this hotel and called the town their home.
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