I was travelling recently, and stayed in a relatively nice hotel for a while. As I was having breakfast, I observed an interesting and rather sad phenomenon. There are the guests, and there are the staff. And somehow, the guests behave as if the staff isn't there. As if they aren't even seen in the first place.
I find that sad, and disappointing. I mean, yes, I understand that I am a paying guest. Nevertheless, these are still people, and these people are working for the guests' convenience. They clean the rooms everyday, make the beds, mop the floors, throw away the trash. At breakfast, they clean up after the guests. The guests just need to stand up and leave after eating. They don't need to wash the dishes. The staff do all of these things, yet sometimes, the guests don't even make an effort to wish them a good morning and say thank you.
No wonder the hospitality industry is having a hard time. Because after Covid, many people who used to work in this industry now said that they want a better workplace. They want to do work that doesn't treat them like shit. And if these are the guests that they encounter on a daily basis, then I totally understand where they are coming from. And because there is a staff shortage, there are a few areas where the hotel prices have skyrocketed, simply because there's more demand but there's not enough workers to cater to them. As a traveler, this sucks, yet at the same time, I can totally understand why this is happening like this.
I also don't want to work in the hospitality industry. Yet this does not give me the license to be rude when I am a guest. Just because I am paying doesn't mean I don't bring my manners with me. I do hope that the hospitality industry eventually recover, and hopefully, these rude guests get some education and make the hospitality industry a better workplace for those who are in it.
