Invisible Housekeeping Staff
Dear Friends,
Traveling as I do with my career, I am in a lot of hotels. And in my humble opinion some are better than others. My overall evaluation always has less to do with the quality of the furnishings and more to do with the cleanliness (finding a spider in the bathtub has influenced my opinion) the service, and the general spirit of the place.
This past August, on a Saturday evening following an event, I was changing my clothes to get ready for a casual dinner out when Elliot (our son) began crying. It was a different kind of cry and seemingly unrelated to anything going on. I picked him up to try to determine what was wrong, and right when we got eye level he vomited everywhere. (In an interesting side note, I wasn’t completely grossed out—my first, second and third concerns were about him. That kind of surprised me, and must be one of those God given mother qualities that just arrive when you most need them.) Now back to the vomit… it was all over both of us, and the floor, and the wall. I was still in a little bit of shock and concern when the second wave hit. I started moving toward the bathroom thinking we could both get on the tile, but we didn’t make it. I just held on to my little guy as the third wave made sure that his little tummy was completely emptied. This was a new experience for him too, and he clearly didn’t like it. He was frightened and upset. So there we stood, covered in vomit, holding each other, him sobbing and me thinking, “how can I love someone so much?”
Now, lest you think I’m a better mother than I am—those thoughts almost immediately gave way to “How in the world am I going to clean this up!” I stripped us both down and threw our clothes in the bathtub. Elliot seemed to return to normal pretty quickly and wanted to get back to playing. I surveyed the damage to the hotel room. It was just awful and way more than I could take care of. Just the smell alone would need a special fumigation crew. I hated to do it, but I picked up the phone and pressed the “At Your Service” button. They had NO idea what was coming.
The voice was cheery and professional. “This is Kelly (made up name) at your service.”
“Hi, uhm, I’m terribly sorry to bother you, but my 15 month old has just been sick, and he’s vomited everywhere…”
“Oh my goodness, do you need medical help?”
I was so touched by her concern. “No, I don’t think so, he’s fine now, but I’m afraid we’ve created a serious housekeeping issue.”
“Oh, please don’t worry, I’ll send someone right up.”
Of course it wasn’t Kelly that would be coming up, but she was so kind and less than 5 minutes later, there was a knock at our door. Two housecleaners, a man and a woman, were standing there reassuring me that they could take care of our mess. I apologized profusely, and offered (sincerely) for them to leave the supplies and I would take care of it. Honestly, I would have preferred it that way. It’s kind of difficult, more like humbling beyond measure, to be served while in such a helpless state. Even a generous tip (which I gave) could not come close to paying for the kind of service I received.
I cannot describe the depth of appreciation that began and grew in my heart. This was no normal day cleaning the hotel, this was WAY above and beyond the call of duty, but you could never have sensed that from either one of them if that happened to be how they felt.
That’s when it hit me. They were invisible! (Like the cathedral builders in The Invisible Woman) Serving and helping in a job others rarely notice or thank them for doing—and I could SEE them. The beauty of their service in my state of helplessness felt nothing short of a beautiful picture of the Divine--the way God himself steps into our messes and without guilt or shame, just helps us clean it all up.
I had tears in my eyes when they left.
Humble and clean,
Nicole
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