Human decency and all its rights

I had the opportunity to work in Miami this week for a conference that racked every single one of my nerves.  I was seriously pulled in any and every direction possible.  I don't normally rant about anything, but this one was a bear.  Human decency was definitely missing on this one.  I worked very hard and super long hours, down at 6 am done at 11:30 ish.  It was hell on my nerves to say the least.

Fast forward to the last day, I had been managing all the breakout meeting space and trying to keep a handle on the internet.  We had a few glitches here and there.  No program goes 100%. There are always hiccups and things you cant forsee such as weather, or traffic or other people.  We, as event staff, try to minimize the down time.  One of my first bosses told me, "A company doesn't pay you for what goes right, they pay you to manage the problems"  I really feel that is what we do.  We manage problems at their worst and do the best we can with them while appeasing the clients.

I had the opportunity to work with Aldo Rodriguez this week and he is a super gentle and kind spirit.  He stands about 5'6, maybe 5'7 tops.  He is probably late 50's or early 60's and has a gentle voice and a huge heart.  His hands tremble as he shows me the paperwork with all of our internet requirements in the hotel, printed nicely in a grid, so he can take his cart around and hook up the hardwired lines and light up new ssid's for our group.

One day, one of the rooms, with 50 computers went completely down.  Aldo responded tirelessly to resolve the problem, however we stayed down for the remainder of the session, as his working in there would have been a distraction.  He, along with the software companies IT department, put their heads together to figure it out.  I could tell that Aldo was majorly stressed as he blew up at a fellow employee that called to ask a simple question.  I pulled him aside and said, "hey Aldo, its okay, You are going to figure it out.  Don't stress about it, there are bigger problems."  He appreciated my kind words and sure enough after the session broke, he was able to get in to work his magic.  I had no doubt that he would fix it.  His 11 years of experience at this hotel was/is a major asset.

He came out smiling and extended a hand and appreciated my patience.  The next morning I saw him at 7am and he was there early at 6am to make sure his internet was up and running. I made sure to tip him very well.  I can tell he loves his job and it showed in his smiling face and handshakes every morning.

Yesterday afternoon as we were wrapping up, I ran into Aldo just outside of our last meeting room.  He smiled and said, "Only one more to go".  I asked him if he recieved our card, he said he did and thanked me profusely.  He also thanked me for treating him like a human being and for being so understanding.  He said so many people come to his hotel, they treat him as sub-human, or like they are superior and yell at him and call him bad names when things like the internet go down and he cant fix it.  He shook my hand and thanked me for not doing that.

I thought to myself, "have we really become a society that values things over people?"  After all the lessons that have been thrown our way, we still don't get that we are spiritual and love beings on a human journey.  Until we begin to treat our fellow man or woman as an equal, we will continually feel the harshness of being uneducated.  I feel we will become isolated and constantly seek that next thing, rather than valuing the human connection.  Make no mistake, you are no better than the person sitting next to you, or the janitor, or CEO of any company.

May you have a blessed day and if you can smile and say something nice to your fellow human.  They won't bite you and you may even get a small gift out of it.  My work here is far from over.

Until next time.

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