From Not Always Right: Their Bigotry And Attitude Are A Sinking Ship
I manage a department on a cruise line. We have to go above and beyond for our customers, often to the point of ridiculousness; that’s kind of expected in this industry. This does mean that, within reason, we take a bit more flak from guests than the average service worker, but as a manager, I get to define what the boundaries are.
There are countless processes and procedures for working and maintaining large cruise ships, and I would bore you all senseless if I tried to explain them in this story, so it’s been edited for brevity and sanity.
It’s embarkation day, and the ship is a flurry of activity as guests board and hundreds of staff are guiding the guests around, delivering luggage, and generally doing all we can to ensure we depart on time.
I can see one of my guest relation officers experiencing some issues with an older couple. I hurry over.
Male Guest: “Can you not speak English?”
Guest Relations: “Yes, sir, I am fluent. As I was trying to explain, all guests are expected to—”
Male Guest: “I guess you can’t speak good English if you have ‘expectations’ of us. It’s us who have expectations of you, and don’t you forget it.”
Female Guest: “We paid a lot of money to be here, whereas you get to be here for free. You should be grateful you get to be in our country.”
I can see that my guest relations officer is having a tough time. She is from the Philippines, so she has a very slight accent, but her English is impeccable; it has to be for her to hold the position she’s in. I decide to take over, all smiles.
Me: “Hi there. I’m the guest relations manager. Is there anything I can do to help your boarding?”
Male Guest: “Yeah! This little girl here thinks she can tell us we have to be somewhere at some time! That’s unacceptable! We’re the guests, and we’re the ones that have to tell you what to do!”
I used to ask coworkers travelling to countries I’ve never been to to bring back a local coin or two. My kids had a world map and we’d put the money on the appropriate country (sometimes nearby with an arrow… they don’t make walls big enough for a centime or gourde to sit on Haiti.
Yakety Sax 11 months ago
From Not Always Right: Their Bigotry And Attitude Are A Sinking Ship
I manage a department on a cruise line. We have to go above and beyond for our customers, often to the point of ridiculousness; that’s kind of expected in this industry. This does mean that, within reason, we take a bit more flak from guests than the average service worker, but as a manager, I get to define what the boundaries are.
There are countless processes and procedures for working and maintaining large cruise ships, and I would bore you all senseless if I tried to explain them in this story, so it’s been edited for brevity and sanity.
It’s embarkation day, and the ship is a flurry of activity as guests board and hundreds of staff are guiding the guests around, delivering luggage, and generally doing all we can to ensure we depart on time.
I can see one of my guest relation officers experiencing some issues with an older couple. I hurry over.
Male Guest: “Can you not speak English?”
Guest Relations: “Yes, sir, I am fluent. As I was trying to explain, all guests are expected to—”
Male Guest: “I guess you can’t speak good English if you have ‘expectations’ of us. It’s us who have expectations of you, and don’t you forget it.”
Female Guest: “We paid a lot of money to be here, whereas you get to be here for free. You should be grateful you get to be in our country.”
I can see that my guest relations officer is having a tough time. She is from the Philippines, so she has a very slight accent, but her English is impeccable; it has to be for her to hold the position she’s in. I decide to take over, all smiles.
Me: “Hi there. I’m the guest relations manager. Is there anything I can do to help your boarding?”
Male Guest: “Yeah! This little girl here thinks she can tell us we have to be somewhere at some time! That’s unacceptable! We’re the guests, and we’re the ones that have to tell you what to do!”
((Contd))
Skeptical Meg 11 months ago
I used to ask coworkers travelling to countries I’ve never been to to bring back a local coin or two. My kids had a world map and we’d put the money on the appropriate country (sometimes nearby with an arrow… they don’t make walls big enough for a centime or gourde to sit on Haiti.