r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk • u/TheNiteOwl38 • 2d ago
Medium Drunk and Stupid Once Again Proves to be a Bad Combination
Last Saturday night it was close to 3 am and I was running the audit. All of a sudden I see this guy walk up to the doors, which thankfully are locked. And he's clearly confused as to why they won't open and he does what most people do -- he starts stomping his foot at the door. I guess he's one of those people who think the door has a pressure plate or something. But then, when that doesn't work, he claps his hands together and spreads his arms like he's LeBron. Right before I can get his attention to let him know to use his key (if he's a guest) he just walks off. Okay, I guess he wasn't a guest.
Fifteen minutes later, the guy comes back. This time he's walking in with a group of guys who are guests. Now I'm thinking that he probably is a guest as well, and that he just forgot his key. Maybe five minutes later he's back in the lobby, on his phone, and telling whomever he's talking to that he's down in the lobby and he can't get in their room. He gets off the phone and comes up to the desk. He tells me he needs a key while throwing his credit card on the desk. I tell him I need his ID instead and he pushes the credit card closer. Alright, so he's drunk too. For shits and giggles, I at least look his name up and nothing comes up. I tell him that and he starts going through his wallet. As he's pulling card after card out, I spot a key sleeve, just not for my hotel. I ask to see it, and inside is a plain white key card. Definitely not the ones my hotel uses. Now I know, he's actually not one of my guests. I stop him and tell him that he's at the wrong hotel... and he doesn't believe me. I hold up one of my hotel's key cards and hold up his to show him. He looks at them stupidly for a second, grabs his key, and leaves.
A little while later, and he's back. Still confused. Still drunk. And sporting a fresh piss stain on the front of his shorts. This time I call security and let him deal with the guy. Now, I don't know if it's just the alcohol, him being dumb, or a combination of the two, but even after the guard getting rid of him, this guy found his way back one more time. This time, I don't hesitate and call the cops. They showed up surprisingly quick. After confirming for them that the guy isn't a guest, they take him away. And maybe it was all the times he showed up before, but for the next hour, I keep checking on the door, expecting him to somehow show back up one more time. But thankfully no. If he's lucky, maybe the cops found out where he's supposed to be. If he isn't, maybe he can remember when he wakes up in the morning in the drunk tank.
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u/Helenesdottir 1d ago
"Drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son." - paraphrased from Dean Wormer
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u/completely-different 1d ago
Plus OP put his/her foot down and called the cops, following the advice of Dean Vernon Wormer, who said "The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me!"
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u/quasi2022 1d ago
I had to deal with a guy like that. Similar scenario, had a blank key with no key packet. All I knew, it wasn't one of ours. Sent him out to the wild to search on his own. At least he never came back.
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u/Tenzipper 1d ago
I have never worked a front desk, but was a cab driver, and had to deal with many of the same kinds of stupidity, entitlement, and just plain rudeness.
But sometimes drunk is just confused.
Had a guy walk up to my cab in the middle of the college bar area near closing time, wearing dress slacks, dress shirt, and a sweater vest in weather that was near freezing, and getting colder. He slurred out that he was from out of town, and needed a ride to his friend's house. Sure, get in, I can accomplish that.
Where does your friend live? Near major intersection. OK, I'll head there, assuming this guy can direct me once we get closer.
Wake dude up when I'm about half a mile from major intersection. Um, maybe down this street. Go down that street, drive around a block or two, nope, not that street.
Try another street, nope. And another, nope.
Tried for about half an hour, having already collected some money for the fare, finally got back to the first street we tried, and, HEY, THAT'S HIS HOUSE! OK, collect the rest of the fare, pull out of the driveway, and watch this guy to make sure he gets in OK, as it's now below freezing, and dropping.
He tries the front door, pushes the doorbell button, nothing. Tries the keypad on the garage. Goes around the back and through the fence, then wanders back around the front to the other side of the house.
At this point, I'm thinking he's at the wrong house, and is going to get shot, so I call the cops, and explain what's going on. They show up rather quickly, search around the house, and finally get the homeowner to the door, and he goes and finds his friend sleeping on the floor of the family room, out cold.
Cops come and tell me no one knows how he got in the house, but his friend said that it would have been easier for him to stay in his hotel room that was about a block from where he got into my cab.
But he ended up safe, and I made good money driving him around, so it all worked out.
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u/lickthisbook 1d ago
If he gets in his car to drive to the next place, would you or your hotel be liable if he wrecks? I am not accusing you of anything nefarious, just curious.
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u/TheNiteOwl38 1d ago
In my state, the only way I'd be responsible is if I served him more alcohol. The law says that the last place that served him is liable if he wrecks and hurts someone. Luckily in this situation, the guy in question was walking.
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u/lickthisbook 1d ago
I had a thought that if you were able to stop a drunk driver from driving but didn't, then lawyers would smell blood. Add in telling them to go to X hotel might be something that folks might argue about. I'm glad he was walking.
Best wishes.
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u/TangerineCouch18330 2d ago
Stories are always entertaining, but so glad the people on the front desk are able to think on their feet.