Adventures on the road.

I don’t often stay in travelodges but I did so the other night and I have to say it was a rather joyless experience. I fully appreciate that £45 is not going to buy you luxury accommodation and I certainly was not exacting that. As far as I am concerned my hard earned £45 should buy me a clean, warm room and polite service. I received my hearts desire with regards to the room but have to say that the rather harassed receptionist who assumed that I actually wanted to hear how bad a day she was having and that she was getting too old for all the rushing around had badly misjudged my mood! I had just had a 5 hour nightmare journey which included 2 hours of being sat in a stationary car on a giant 3 lane car park, so all I wanted was a hello, my key and the directions to my room. I am at a bit of a loss as to why someone who works in the service industry would think it ok to unburden herself of her problems to a stranger! Still, being rather polite I made sympathetic noises and nodded my head in all the right places before grabbing my key and fleeing to my room.
Mind you, this is far from my worst experience in a hotel reception, this came many years ago at the end of a days site visits with one of my regional directors. We arrived at our hotel for the night and were being checked in by an attractive young lady (she could not have been more than 21 or 22 years old) when I noticed that the guy I was with (he was bald, not exactly good looking and easily old enough to have been her father) actually started to flirt with her! I could have died! I felt embarrassed for him and was very tempted to proclaim to the world that I didn’t know this man. Instead, I dragged him over to the bar and got him a drink. I have been a firm believer in growing old gracefully and now that I am at the grand old age of 47 would not dream of flirting with anyone, least of all someone young enough to be my daughter…..