I need some wine.

To ease the discomfort…

When an old lady with an exaggerated sense of responsibility tries to do the right thing, it can backfire completely. If it hadn’t been for a young compassionate co-worker I might have been fired on my first day of work. The hostel:


It was my first 4 hour shift from 16h00 onwards when the doorbell rang.Front door and entrance (and a dog):


There stood a very tired cyclist who had been cycling for 3 days on terrible roads and was in dire need of a shower, bed and rest. This information only came to me later. All I knew at that stage was that she had not made a booking, and my dementia mind reminded me that all bookings had to be referred to the owner. The guest led me to believe that she could not speak English, so I approached a co-worker regarding the procedure and argued with her about first having to phone the owner. In the end I shrugged my shoulders, absolving myself from any consequences regarding the issue. All this in front of the guest, who suddenly and in perfect English reprimanded us for having this discussion in front of her, and how totally unacceptable it was. I saw the co-worker go red, and I apologized profusely, to no avail. I just left her to cope, and disappeared from the crime scene, hiding in the communal space. The guest was shown to a room, and the co-worker came to talk to me. She was so sweet, and typed the word odioso into Google Translate. It means odious, and this was what she used to describe the guest’s attitude. Well-said. I was wrong, I know, and when I checked the rules for volunteers again, I saw that it was only requests for bookings made by telephone that had to be referred to the owner. My mistake!! For Pete’s sake, I am 66yrs old and the owner a mere 30yrs, why on earth should I get into a tizz about such a trifling matter.  And all because I wanted to do the right thing, according to me. I never seem to learn, I’m always sure I’m right, and this mouth of mine has really gotten me into big trouble through the years. Even my mother told me once: “You’re such a nice person  but you’re so stubborn!”

To make matters worse, I was asked by the owner to move to the volunteers’ room and remake my bed for the guest. (I had been staying in an en suite bedroom.) As I was trying to maneuver Louise through the door, the hinge of the door broke and it came crashing down. The guest rushed over to grab hold of it, just in time. Unfortunately she had to sleep in a door less room that night.

All’s well that ends well, as the guest offered me some rooibos tea the next day – a gesture I sincerely appreciated as my provisions ran out weeks ago.  And I’m still employed!