When I was working guest services at a beachside resort for almost five years, I experienced nothing less than a ton of entertainment. We were a unique resort with a standard hotel and privately owned homes and condos, opening the door for even more excitement. Over my time working there, I heard and saw things I never imagined to be possible. While there were times when the stress level was almost unmanageable, the experiences I had while working at this place were truly humbling. As a result, I left that job knowing I was a good person, and my patience for people has grown.
1. “The Not So Drowning Drowning Man”
One summer day, a group of young women reported to the beach bar that they believed someone was drowning near the shoreline. The bartender called the emergency services and me, the manager on duty. When I went to the beach, I found a man lying at the shoreline but still very much conscious and not in distress at all. When I told him someone thought he might have been in trouble and needed help, he replied with: “I’m fine, I’m just too drunk and got tired of swimming.”
As I turned to leave, I saw the police and firemen coming in the pick-up truck they drove on the sand during emergencies. They asked me for a quick briefing, and we all shared a laugh. At that point, we all knew each other, and we knew that more often than not, the emergency was just someone drunk. Before leaving, I took another look back and saw them throwing the man like a sack of potatoes into the back of the pick-up truck. They were likely taking him to the station to sober up, fining him for public intoxication.
2. “Citizen’s Arrest?”
During an afternoon shift, I was called to the resort restaurant to help remove a highly intoxicated man. When I got to the bar, I removed him easily, into the lobby. When I asked where he was staying, I could barely understand him as he was slurring too much. Instead, he handed me his phone and asked me for Wi-Fi information.
Nevertheless, I was stealthy enough to get his parents’ phone number from his phone. Luckily, they were in the next building and able to come quickly. They escorted their son outside, but he continued to make a scene. Then, the mom came back to me at the desk and asked if I could call the police and have him arrested. After confirming that’s really what she wanted, I made the call. I guess she was trying to use a scare tactic.
3. “Big Montana Sky”
During convention season, we had a women’s empowerment group staying at the resort. One of our male front desk agents named Montana had our uniform on, which at the time included a pale blue button-up. Then, one of the convention attendees came to the front desk. When she saw his name tag, she took it upon herself to come behind the desk, run her hands up and down his chest and tell him she wouldn’t forget his name: “Montana, like a big blue sky.”
4. “Unwanted Uber Passenger”
The resort I worked at is huge; it took up the last 5 miles of an island. Hence, navigating through it and finding certain homes and condos could be tricky, even more so when you had poor guidance from an intoxicated passenger.
During summer construction, we operated out of a trailer. One evening, an Uber stopped in front of the trailer and told us his passenger was staying somewhere at the resort but couldn’t tell him where. Apparently, they’d been driving around for almost 30 minutes, looking for it. In addition, the passenger was extremely drunk. Being fed up, the Uber driver left the passenger at the front of our check-in trailer. Managers and other employees tried to find out where he was staying, but the young man became combative and started vomiting. Having other things to tend to, we called the police.
When they showed up, one of the police offers asked the young man, “Do you want to go home or go to jail?” to which he replied, “Jail because that’s what I do!” They accepted this and began arresting him. The young man stiffened and started to resist. The EMTs also present on-site gave the man a sedative shot in his butt. Then, we watched him being loaded into the ambulance and carried off, tongue hanging out of his mouth and all.
The beachside resort was never a shortage of entertainment. There are a lot more stories to come. Which one’s your favorite? Let us know in the comments down below.
Featured Image by Michael Block from Pexels
“The not so drowning drowning man” was my fave!