Spanish for Insane

Lately, I have been doing a huge side project on the weekends and weeknights. I have two very distracting children which I love. But when they are home and awake, it’s hard to get anything done. My solution was to get my wife and kids a hotel room and crank out the work.

So the first weekend, everything went smoothly. The hotel was running a special if you booked with them. I booked under my wife’s name, she had a good time and so did the kids.

The next weekend I booked through Hotels.com which I love because, after 10 stays, you get a free one. Except I booked it under my name but told my wife that the reservation was on our printer.

She checked in (and forgot the reservation I printed out), they considered her a walk-in, so I notice the next week I was charged by Hotels.com and the hotel.

You know the drill. I called the hotel, they said call Hotels.com, Hotels.com said they would have to call the hotel. Yadda, yadda…

I get a message on Monday saying they were able to take off one night. Which I could totally understand.

And really; in a good compromise, everyone loses.

Here is where it gets weird. My wife calls to ask for the 2nd night off and they say “we will only refund the first night and oh yeah, you stole $200 worth of blankets and pillows from the room and we are going to charge that to your card.”

I call them up and very calmly ask in 20 different ways, is there a way this is a mistake? The general manager I talked to said she called me the Monday after that weekend (so one full week before this conversation) and I had said I would get the pillows and blankets right back to her.

This is fishy for all kinds of reasons. Number 1, I only answer the phone for very few people and only ones I know. Number 2, how long was she going to wait for me to get these blankets back before a follow-up phone call. Plus, I know my wife and she wouldn’t steal anything, much less queen-sized hotel blankets when we have a king-sized bed.

So I asked her to check the camera recordings and see how many trips my wife made when she left and with how many bags. Also when they did inventory the previous day were any blankets missing. All very logical things that would prove she could not have taken anything unless she came with empty luggage and the express purpose of taking some blankets.

I did inquire if she was doing this to make up for the revenue lost from having to refund one night. She was adamant that I should just bring back the blankets before she charges my card. At one point she mentioned her right to call the police.

So I was a little upset when I got off the phone. I went to lunch and, not for the first time, was inspired at Chipotle. I thought what would God want me to do?

That was the first one I thought of. I realized then that while I did not have the blankets if she really felt she had the right to charge me, $200 would be a small price to pay for spreading some peace and positivity in the Universe.

I decided to talk it over with my wife first, but planned on calling the general manager and saying, “If you really feel I have wronged you take my money.”

This is another one that struck me.

While I think this is how to avoid jail, I felt it is still a good one to live by.

So after I came to terms with this in my heart, I called my wife and told her. After relating my plan, she told me that she spoke with the general manager again who agreed to not charge for the sheets.

I believe that time is not as linear as we perceive it to be and cause and effect can happen simultaneously without knowledge of each other. As soon as I had my epiphany and let go, the manager had a change of heart.

However, my wife still wanted blood.

I tried to soothe her with the positive feelings I had just come to possess. After talking her down, she saw this was a good thing and was technically a win. She was still mad about the accusations and was convinced this is a scam they pull on people often to bilk them of money.

Later on, she did thank me for talking her down.

I feel whenever I don’t have something to blog about, God will provide.

Action Steps

1. Be quick to forgive. Whether you live by the bible or not, it is best to let go of whatever negative energy you have quickly.
2. Just know La Quintas are independently owned franchises. It does no good to call corporate. They will just submit a ticket to the hotel in question for them to handle.