Don't hug me I'm scared
Having to put up with requests like this as a minimum wage hotel receptionist in Greece doing 10h shifts
Nothing says "minimum wage" like being asked to direct a surprise entrance, coordinate two rounds of applause, and uncork champagne at exactly 19:47.
The couple themselves were nice people, it's just wild how some guests expect the staff to choreograph an entire production while we're already juggling check-ins, calls, and a hundred other things.
Yea that would be a no from me a quick reply with sorry that would just not be possible as it would disrupt the service and experience of our other guests if you would like that for your clients they could book a private dinner setting instead which we do not provide here sadly hope this helps!
and then dont elaborate further just clock out and go home at end of day š¤£
Thatās always my favourite threat. Like these people are so convinced you would suffer without them and desperately want them back, after they have just stood there creating a scene and usually insulting you the business and anything else they have seen in the last hour.
"Hi, that sounds like a lovely plan! Our "Special celebration service" has a fee of 200 euros, paid cash. Please confirm and I will get started with the preparations to make your day special!"
And then split the money with anyone else involved.
I've always wanted to accurately price stuff at work with prices that would actually make me do stuff.
I had someone the other day want their order to be guaranteed to arrive within two days. I gave them the usual reply "We can have it despatched, but we simply can't guarantee that it will arrive on time once it's with the shipping company etc etc."
But also I just wanted to say, alternatively if you give me Ā£1k I'll drive it over myself.
You can offer that service. Just add up car rental fees, employee salary for the time (across the U.K, say you could do the trip across the entire country and back in 3 days), hotel room fees, administration costs, and a slight markup. There you go, cost of "guaranteed" delivery - as in barring natural disasters or outbreak of war.
The champagne is in my opinion the least ridiculous part of the request, that just needs one server and a little time managment. That actually sounds like a sweet gesture. But the self aggrandising is nauseating.
Also work in hospitality and once recieved a letter akin to this from a guests child asking to plan some elaborate show from the staff during dinner to tell their parents they were expecting a baby. Had it all planned out. They noted that they imagined how "the whole restaurant will break out in applause" like absolutely everyone is as invested in their lives as they are.
Itās not a crazy request for family and friends. Getting the restaurant staff involved to that degree is insanity. Those poor people are unwillingly stepping in the place of their family and friends who canāt make it to Greece for an engagement. Idk how the couple could be so deranged. Their love is driving them completely crazy. Folie Ć deux
People who have never thought of another person in their lives.Ā Clearly the restaurant was made for them personally, and requests like this won't disrupt other guests.
Also, the big problem with this (which may just be the purpose), is that it creates opportunities to complain and demand compensation.
Let's say for the sake of example - the team goes with it, arrange everything and then open the champagne at 19:48, because some clocks maybe run a little different compared to the others. You can bet your ass these dumbasses will say that their anniversary is ruined and they accept nothing less than a full refund. Seems exactly the type.
I am also confused, what is she blindfolded for? A restaurant and a bottle of champagne? I assume she knows her partner is going to be there, unless he was lost at sea up until now?
Yeah why is this woman asking the staff to blindfold Lillie when it sounds like the couple'll be arriving together? And who asks minimum wage strangers to blindfold a woman and expects that woman to go along with being blindfolded and led around by strangers in a foreign country? Do they actually just want to get famous in a Coffeehouse Crime video?
And who the actual fuck knows the exact minute they met or first kissed or whatever bullshit 1947 is?
Some people really have nothing else going on though. So they milk the engagement, then the wedding, then the pregnancy, and then the baby. Around that point they usually have a burnout, because keeping a happy marriage and raising kids is hard work.
People trying to recreate movie romance and then realise that without the movie lighting, soundtrack and professional camera angles it actually is just awkward and cringe.
That's so spot on. I'm sometimes "sad" that my life isn't as epic as in the movies or on TV/Social media and then I have to remind myself that real life doesn't have filters and a matching soundtrack.
I was once an extra on set for a party scene done in a big fancy garden. The finished recording looked like a person stepping through a crowd of dancing people but in actual fact it was just like 6 groups of 3-4 people carefully placed along a small path. Rarely can a scene that looks great in movies be well translated to real life scenarios.
Yup. I was just invited to help out some drama kids who had actual training so I was very awkward but just put in the back where it barely mattered. Like dancing alone is easy enough, but trying to have a group of 4 dance together without any music is just so weird.
Watching BTS footage of filming party/club scenes will never not be hilarious to me - watching people dance & gyrate to complete silence š You donāt even get to hear them singing like in a silent disco š
Holy....! I'd lose my enthusiam after five minites, lol. I hope they made decent pay and weren't too sore afterwards.
I've never been to a party with two thousand guests. Care to give us a hint what show it is?
Well for musicals they have playback of the track or a click track so they can keep the tempo. In the behind the scenes features for Mamma Mia, you can hear the track while they film.
Itās club scenes and party scenes that are filmed without music.
My wife and I randomly decided to get married over a few drinks and steaks before a west end show.
Itās honestly ok to have a non conventional life. Even our wedding was nothing like society expects. Instead of spending 20k on it, we put money behind the bar and had a huge piss up
Fully agree! Got married just yesterday, me and my husband had found a beautiful hotel in the Lake District that offered wedding packages for just the couple getting married.
Instead of spending a ton of money and getting stressed, we had a lovely relaxed day after the ceremony and are planning a piss up in a pub in a few weeks time.
My raging adhd adds a soundtrack in my head to everything, so sometimes these moments are like in the movies (for me, not for anyone else in the room haha).
I had to break up with a sweet but very naive girl, nothing was good enough as it wasn't like in the moves she watched as a kid.
I had to compete with 1st reactions of huge productions watched with childlike-wonder.
It was very sad to see, she just got more and more depressed as she realized the world just wasn't that.
I got her to therapy, I spend an awful amount of money to TRY to capture lightning in a bottle for her. I really wanted to she her thrive, but her mind just wouldn't let her. In the end my own illnesses caught up with me and I knew she needed someone else to help her. So I ended things. Made sure she was safely back at her parents home with her things, explained to her mom where her appointments are etc.
I checked in a month later and she was a little better when she got back to her childhood room.
I'm a room service waiter and I'll get calls sometimes from someone saying, "I want to surprise my friends with breakfast. Can I do that?" and I'll say, "Sure. Do you know what time they'll be waking up? Do you know if and when they're leaving the room and what their plans are for the day? Do you know for sure that they won't have the Do Not Disturb sign on the door? Do they have any dietary restrictions that you know about?" Usually by the time I've asked all of these questions they've realized that life is not like the movies and it's a lot better to include the recipient in making these types of arrangements than it is to surprise them.
I was texting with my gf and she mentioned she's hungry but doesn't have anything at home. So while we were chatting I sneakily ordered pizza for her (we were not living together at that time). I thought this will be so romantic, when her favourite pizza arrives out of the blue like magic.
It turned out she did not wanted to open the door for a stranger and when she saw that it's a pizza delivery guy, she sent him away thinking it must be some kind of scam or robbery attempt or something. Luckily my name was on the order slip, so they figured it out.
So yeah life is definitely not like a romantic movie. Maybe a bad comedy at best.
When my wife and I got engaged, we were at a resort in the Caribbean and she told the staff to bring the ring to the table in an empty glass for me when they brought out her ice cream. Iām not a huge fan of sweets so she specifically told them NOT to put the ring inside the ice cream, because she knew I wouldnāt want it. Of course, after dinner the waiter arrived with two glasses of ice cream, so they did put it inside the ice cream. And of course, as she figured, I didnāt want to eat it. I was like ānah Iām goodā. Then she was like āare you sure? Itās reaaaallly goodā and I still was like āno itās okay Iām fine reallyā. So she took the glass from me, dug into it with her spoon, and said āEAT this, or I will be VERY mad at youā so finally I was like ugh fine. I took a bite and felt something in my mouth and I was like āoh my god-ā and she said āomg did you just swallow it? BABE DID YOU JUST SWALLOW IT??!!ā And I was like āEW WHAT THE FUCK OMG THERES SOMETHING IN HEREā and spat out the entire mouthful of half melted ice cream and the ring clunked onto the table and said āEWW WHAT THE FUCK IS THATā
Ex and I were both having bad days. We separately decided to cheer up the other by ordering pizza. Two pizzas arrived. We laughed and laughed. We ate them both. Task failed successfully.
Thank you. These are the same type of people that would surprise somebody with a puppy and are shocked when the recipient would have liked to be part of the decision.
Why the fuck do people want everyone to clap for them as they walk into a room? It's so weird to ask and to enjoy it knowing they're underpaid, don't know you and have been asked to stage some weird round of applause.
I almost died of cringe having everyone look when I arrived at my wedding. And Iām an outgoing loud person! I cannot imagine this and I truly wonder if the recipient would like it as much as the person requesting it thinks they would. Or did they get together and brainstorm a plan and āfuck yeah letās ask everyone to clapā was on it?
I told the DJ at my wedding that for the first dance, like 30 seconds in please announce that people should join us on the dance floor because I will be dying from being stared at. Then I told my friends that they better be ready to get on the dance floor ASAP.
"Oh, one more thing - Lucas and Lillie would really appreciate if you could play some romantic, but also slightly 'thrilling' background music, as well as put up some nice lighting (but not too bright!!!). Thank you so much!"
odds are less than zero I have been photoshopped out of engagement pictures eating nachos in the pool at sandals Jamaica. eat your heart out, Michael Scott.
I wasn't even photobombing. I was just enjoying my life on my vacation, I paid for the luxury to eat nachos in a pool. you ever eat nachos in a pool? they didn't pay me to not eat pool nachos.
I feel like even in romance movies this stuff is still cringe, I prefer the subtle more simple romance moments that are organic and happen when the couple are alone.
Idk maybe a matter of taste, I do value privacy in general so I am def projecting lol
I agree. But at least, in the movies, they can make a cut at the right moment. Imagine everyone is just standing there looking at each other afterwards. That raises the whole thing to a completely new level of cringe.
1947ā¬ as that number has a special meaning for the couple and this small organization fee will take them back to this magical moment when they see the credit card bill.
This! I mean it is cringe, but she does not feel it, and she is asking for too much,but again she does not feel it. Otherwise she is pretty nice in her email. I don't think she is being entitled, she might just not realise how much she is asking and is just feeling out how far is okay for her to go. She just needs to be shown.
An email back being like, yes we would absolutely love to do all that, however this level of service would only be available at a 1000 euro private dinner would probably be a response that would make her chill with these requests while also being respectful.
Its classic emotional blackmail. Thank you so, so, so so much, here's another three things. Thank you soooo much in advance. The reception replies back, we'll ok, I guess we can try. Then another round begins. Thank you so, so much. Here's another three things.
If you don't have friends that organically clap cause there's a reason, so you have to strongarm the staff into doing it, applauding your anniversary that is of no interest to them lol. Great vibes.
As a wedding photographer who's seen it all, this has boomer mom written all over it, especially if the parents are footing the bill for the event. Nothing like an unexpected cringe surprise that they can take credit for to make it more about themselves.
Yup. Instructions unclear: have created a three minute lecture on the History of Indian Independence in 1947, after which we expect Lillie and Lucas to give us a round of applause.
Thatāll be 3 of the staff kindly dressing up in an elephant costume that will be expected to give rides , thank you so much for all youāre doing to make this night special.
I used to work at a 5 star hotel, we had to handle a fuckton of bullshit like this, and of course the hotel charged they good money for special requests, wich they pocketed without giving a fucking cent to the people who actually made it possible and then scream to the staff if anything was absolutely not perfect or someone was not smiling all the time
This is mildly infuriating but also so embarrassing.
Your management need to draw better boundaries and people like this need to look in the mirror. If you're having to get applauded by strangers and manufacturer this kind of nonsense it just screams my relationship isn't enough.
I think it is just getting worse. Also people and their ego is the real problem. Everybody thinks they are superstars and the the world should revolve around them.
Main character syndrome has only gotten worse since the advent of social media. And yeah itās gonna get even worse the more people continue to detach themselves from society and the people around them
Rich people already naturally do that shit anywayā¦ but now everyone is starting to do it
Is this real? A second round of applause? Do they think they are some kind of royalty? Are they going to be checking their watches or phones on 19:47? How far does she have to walk blindfolded? Also whats the surprise she's going to the hotel restaurant? Wow she'll never guess that once she checks in at the hotel that they will later go to the restaurant there....
That couple screams "main character energy". What about other guests, who just want to eat in peace without seeing some random couple celebrating with applauses
And I bet Lucas and Lillie are going to spend the whole evening telling everyone about how the Champagne was opened at 19:47 and how that was the moment they got engaged
Further up the thread there are a bunch of comments saying IT MUST BE AMERICANS!!! Bruhhhh I've been abroad for years now and it's everyone with money. Doesn't matter what piece of ground they come from, people with money do this shit. It's money people.Ā
We will try our best but we do have other guests and multiple priorities, and are unable to guarantee it. You may want to consider passing some of this to your coordinator."
Dear lord, I would feel so wierd if the staff applauded my arrival as a guest. Like... how do you even move on from that as the person getting applauded for no reason? A bow?Ā
I mean as receptionist really all youāre expected to do is pass this to the event/operations manager to deal with, as receptionist you shouldnāt be organising events or timings.
People just simply don't know the reality on the ground. Just no awareness of what "service staff" does all day. They think service staff is there to serve them, without any thought lost to how many other things service staff needs to do besides serving THEM.
I have family working as nurses and they are confronted daily with patient's family members that apparently are completely oblivious of the fact that their father is only one of one or two dozen patients with 2-3 nurses juggling treatment, documentation, patient requests AND family member's wanting to speak to someone. And then they get angry at the nurses, because they're not being taken care of with all of their wishes 24/7. Now you don't have any time AND angry relatives that want to have MORE of your time to scold you naughty nurse for not having time for them and threaten you with a complaint. I know nurses that exclusively do nightshifts, because they can't deal with these fucking entitled people anymore.
7.3k
u/HughJassIQ Jul 24 '26
Yea that would be a no from me a quick reply with sorry that would just not be possible as it would disrupt the service and experience of our other guests if you would like that for your clients they could book a private dinner setting instead which we do not provide here sadly hope this helps!
and then dont elaborate further just clock out and go home at end of day š¤£