The Real Tales of a Housekeeper

5. Give Me a Minute, No Two!

We only had four housekeepers this day. Me and three others. Today, I also didn't have many rooms and they were all in good shape so I was flying through the rooms quickly enough. 

It was coming up to the last room. I parked my cart (which was only half-empty) outside and knocked on the door. It was a guest room and I wanted to get it done. 

I knocked on the door, signature knuckles to wood. Loud, but not overbearing. 

The man opened the door with a smile. 

"Would you like service for your room today?" I said with a smile. I was holding my hands behind my back and ready for whatever he said. Or so I thought. 

"Uh, yeah. Could you come back in 15 minutes? I am making an important conference call and I would like total silence." 

I nodded. I guess I could stock my cart and come back. It was really no big deal. 

He closed the door and I pushed the cart to the laundry room. I would just need to take my time with stocking so I could be done within 15 minutes. 

***

I was finished stocking my cart and heading back to the guest's room so I could see if he was ready for me to clean it. I knocked and again he answered. This time with a phone pressed to his ear. "Yeah sorry, could you come back in another 30? The call is taking longer than I thought."

I wanted to say, "Sir, you are my last room of the day and I would like to go home instead of waiting." but I instead nodded again and said "sure, I can come back." 

I left my cart beside his door and made sure it was out of the way. I went to the office where my supervisor sat at the computer. "He wants me to come back in half an hour," I said through a sigh. "Is there anyone I can help?" 

She nodded and told me I could help Alana. I ran to her and explained the situation. Like old times - when she was training - we worked together and got through quite a few of her rooms before 30 minutes were up and I went back to the room.

I made beds and changed garbages and replaced towels and soaps and cups. 

My 30-minute wait was up and luckily I was able to keep busy. So I came again and knocked on his door. 

The door opened and his phone was still pressed to his ear. He pulled it away. "You can just come in and clean the room, the call is taking longer than I thought it would so you don't have to wait any longer."

Quietly, I nodded and allowed him to continue his call while I worked to try not to disturb him. I found I worked a lot quicker with a guest in the room and had finished his room within 7 minutes and finally, I was done. 

And that was not the last time I needed to wait to clean a room. And in the future, annoyingly, it will not be the last.