Each Tuesday I will be posting a short story of an event that has occurred in my working career that may be memorable, embarrassing, or offensive in nature. This event took place in the summer of 1999.
My summer break after Freshman year of college was an interesting one. Instead of taking an internship like many of my friends were doing, I figured I'd go a different route and get a job at a hotel. For some reason, I applied for a job as a bellman in one of the nicest hotels in the D.C. metro area, and for some reason, they hired me. One of the most interesting facets of this job was the close proximity in which I met and interacted with celebrities. I'm not sure why, but at the age of 19 I was fascinated with anyone that was remotely famous, which looking back on is incredibly pathetic, but may also be normal for a teenager.
One day I entered work around 7am and headed up to the bellman stand by the front desk. I had been working at the hotel for over a month now and had developed a rapport with most of the staff, mainly because of my open disdain for the management. As I arrived, Cheryl at the front desk called me over, which usually meant someone important checked in and she felt obliged to gossip about her privileged information. She informed me that Aerosmith had just checked in for a week, which was good news because it meant the lobby would be flooded with groupies by 3pm, an usual group of women I must say. I asked if anyone else was staying in the hotel when she said, "The only other name on the registration I recognize is Dan Marino, but he'll be checking out in an hour."
Despite growing up an avid Washington Redskins fan, I had spent the better part of my life obsessed with Dan Marino. He was my all-time favorite athlete, Ace Ventura was my favorite movie, and I was wearing Isotoners to school when I was nine years old. Sure I got my ass kicked a few times for it, but at least my hands stayed nice and toasty through it all. When Cheryl told me Mr. Marino would be heading down to the lobby in an hour I started sweating, and explained to the bell staff, the front desk, the valets, the concierge, and basically any random person in the lobby how much I looked up to this man. Alas, I had to keep my cool as being an employee of this hotel chain meant I could not treat one guest different from another. This was going to be difficult.
Marino headed into the lobby, and I was happy to see him lugging a set of golf clubs in tow, as I would most likely be helping him carry the luggage to his car. After he checked out, he started heading towards the bell stand and approached me directly. All eyes in the lobby were on me as I stood tall, kept my composure, and offered Marino assistance. Now, let's rewind two hours....
When I came to work that morning I walked into the locker room like any normal day, and changed into my penguin suit. After I grabbed a quick bagel I made my way to the front desk, but when I looked down at my outfit I noticed my name tag was gone. I must have left it on when I handed my vest to the in-house cleaners yesterday, though they had nothing for Steve from the day before. So, I headed to HR to receive a new name tag. The young lady who headed up HR for that hotel said it wasn't a problem and she'd have a new name tag for me by lunch. In the meantime I figured I'd take a random name tag out of the lost and found so I'd at least have something on my vest, considering management was already all over my back. While digging through the box, I decided that a better decision would be to grab a funny name, rather than a realistic name. I selected a winner, pinned it to my vest, and headed to my station to start the day.
Marino was walking over to my station, and I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. I hadn't been this nervous since I tried to kiss Julie Hendrickson at a high school house party four years ago. Marino set his clubs down...
Me: Good morning sir, would you like some help with your clubs?
Marino: Yea thanks, can you take my suitcase as well. My car should already be down there.
Me: Not a problem sir, please follow me.
I set the clubs and suitcase on the bellcart while Marino took out and handed me a $10 bill.
Me: Thank you Mr. Marino.
Marino: Thanks for the help...looks down at my nametag...Michelle?
My heart dropped. Through all the pandemonium of Aerosmith and Marino I had completely forgot that a few hours before I grabbed a nametag with the name Michelle on it, just to get a rise out of the other bellmen. After he said the name I heard a massive snicker throughout the entire front desk area, as it turned out everyone had heard Marino call me by a girls name. The worst part of the entire situation was that I was speechless, mainly out of embarrassment, and couldn't even bring myself to correct my idol. I simply grabbed the cart and walked to his car.
There are moments in our lives that will never be forgotten despite how hard we try and push them aside. Like when Julie Hendrickson told me she couldn't kiss me because she was a lesbian at the age of 14, despite the fact that she started dating a guy two days after that party. Or when your boyhood idol calls you by a girls name. In the end I guess trying to make people laugh by wearing a ladies name tag while working in a luxury hotel may have had worse consequences, such as getting fired. But honestly, I could have found a new job. It probably would have been easier than finding a new idol.
"This one's for you, Michelle"
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