Yep. I’d be filling out those charges before she got back to the desk with the food. And, if any of it needed to be warmed in a microwave (and, if it existed as an option, there *would* have been), I’d have offered to heat it up for her. (Sorry. Can’t return what’s been opened.) Hell, I’d have told her I’d make dinner for both of them (“make”, not pay) and offer to let them eat in the breakfast area/lobby (none for you, AH) while they watch a movie of their choice on the tv there. Let* granddad think enjoy the free babysitting and think it was on the house or my treat. Nothing on tape would show that I said so when he disputes the amended bill — and grandma’s not gonna mind. Hell, if there’s a homeless guy hanging around the door, I’d be tempted to feed him, too. Call it the AH tax.
Thank you for being a kind and caring person in the face of adversity. He might complain that you are what is wrong with this country (lol. What power you have!), but you show what is right with humanity. People feeling compassion and trying to help.
I’m not mandated via my hotel job-I am also a teacher and have completed my state’s 40hr SA crisis center training. So I’m considered/trained as a mandated reporter from two different avenues.
In some states in the US, everyone is a mandated reporter. If you want to know the rules for your state, here's a page you can review.
https://www.childwelfare.gov/search/?q=Mandated%20reporter
What’s disturbing to me is he let a small child walk around in a hotel by herself. When you stay at a hotel, you have zero idea about who else is in that hotel and what trouble you could run into. At least send the older kid with her!
He sent a seven year old to front desk with a dollar to buy food for two?
he knew exactly what he was doing.
he put you into a lose lose situation.
turn the kid away, and you confirm, this is proof, in his mind that you are the problem.
you buy the kids a meal, out of your own pocket, you feel better, but you still lost in his mindset.
you could have gone with the nuclear option. call 911. Say, I have an Unaccompanied Minor in my lobby begging for food. You would have been "technically" correct, but your karma would take a Huge hit.
I would have done what you did. If doing the right thing, and being out $10, so be it. Maybe you'll be remembered as that "nice person" at the desk who bought us food.
Yeah. It occurred to me that he might’ve done that purposely. It was a shitty situation, but I wasn’t going to engage in a power struggle at this little girl’s expense. She didn’t deserve to be treated like a pawn in some fucked up game.
If I could fuck with Joe face to face, that’s great. But I’m not putting a child in the middle of something like that. I’d been put in that situation before as a child, and I know how it feels.
You did the right thing and you have a heart of gold. This is why I am extra nice and polite to front desk workers when I stay in a hotel. You all are out there on the front lines dealing with the absolute dregs of humanity. Don't give that miserable loser another thought.
Honestly it sounds to me like you won that power struggle. You can't even feed your own grandkids? Here let me get that for you, you worthless excuse of a guardian.
You wouldn't be putting the child in the middle of anything. You would have been helping the young girl.
Edit to add: Thank you for doing what you did. It was definitely the right thing to do
No, the nuclear option would be to ask the 7 year old for the parents phone number and anonymously calling to say you witnessed the 7 year old begging for food.
> Say, I have an Unaccompanied Minor in my lobby begging for food. You would have been "technically" correct, but your karma would take a Huge hit.
You've got someone who's been extremely resistant to showing ID, with kids he's unaware he has to feed and no apparent viable plan to do so. That's enough that's both true and sketchy-sounding, and the guy being a jerk about it didn't buy him any benefit of the doubt.
That’s a good point. Something ain’t right and while kidnapping is unlikely, better safe than sorry. There’s a solid chance Joe would go off on the cops.
Meanwhile Grandad is up in the room chortling "Hah, I got that idiot on the FD to buy the kids food so I don't have to!" I would have been SO tempted to take the nuclear option.
I can see it being the opposite- He sent the girl down with a dollar thinking about how he was going to be able to cry to anyone who would listen that, “I sent my granddaughter down with money to buy food and the stuck-up hotel workers refused! What’s this country coming to!?” and then was disappointed she actually got food. I’ve met people that like that and they genuinely hate good news because it interferes with their persecution complex.
Years ago there was this guy at one of our church dinners. He wasn’t a member of our church and I’d never seen him before, but someone said he was related to one of the older ladies of our congregation. He was telling a couple people about a negative urban legend targeting a soda company. I had just recently learned it was false, so I told him, “Oh, don’t worry, that one has actually been debunked! I read an article about it and it’s all a misunderstanding.” I thought he’d be relieved and happy, but instead he glared at me in anger and left without another word. I didn’t realize at the time, but he was one of those who tells negative stories to feed into their martyr complex. He wanted to impress people that “Oh, I’m just a moral and upright person who’s appalled by all these terrible things happening in the world!” and then I‘d inadvertently ruined his plan by telling the truth. Later I saw the guy yelling at his family members, including an elderly woman who might have been his mother, over every little irritation. Charming :-/
I have a question for Americans: is 911 not the emergency number? I keep seeing posts and comments regarding calling 911 in situations where it is clearly not a life or death moment. Surely there is a non-emergency number to use.
It is the emergency number, but if you're not in a situation where you can find the local non emergency number (they are local, not another 3 digit number), you can call to be transferred. If at all possible do find and call the non emergency number if it's not an emergency so you can leave their lines open, though.
Thanks to you and others who replied. I appreciate the clarification. In Australia, our emergency number is more clearly for emergencies only so I was a little confused. 
It's generally the emergency number, but in some places they also funnel everyone looking for those sorts of services through 911 (some might do so all the time, some after-hours), regardless of urgency.
For my two cents (pet rant time!), that's the way it should be everywhere, and a person shouldn't second guess or feel bad about calling 911 if they do need police/fire/ambulance services, no matter the urgency. Having to distinguish when it really counts and when it doesn't is a recipe for second-guessing and wasting time when it actually does count.
Spouse of a former 911 dispatcher. Lives are lost when dumbasses clog the lines with stupid things like barking dogs and lost car keys.
People shouldn't feel bad about calling for actual emergencies, but they should face consequences when they call for bullshit reasons.
The problem is that during an actual emergency is the last time you want to be spending time thinking "Is this an *actual* emergency?" or doing the wrong thing when it is. Just having the distinction invites that type of thinking. That's a question better answered by the professionals who aren't mid-crisis than leaving it with someone in the midst of something with nothing but the vague threshold of "*maybe* an emergency" to work off of. It'd be better to facilitate the 911 operators handling more callers and quickly shunting off them off to non-emergency pipelines when it's not an emergency.
I've been on the other end of it, which is where I get my position on the matter from. I had my smoke alarms start going off at 4AM but there weren't any other indicators, so I fumbled around and eventually called the firehouse direct line (which might not have even been the right one.) They told me to just call 911 because, yes, that was an emergency that should go through dispatch even without other signs. I can see the same sort of thing happening with all sorts of medical, fire, or criminal situations, where someone in the heat of indecision chooses modestly and wastes valuable time fumbling with non-emergency numbers.
(Come to think of it, it happened a second time, too. I hit a deer and kept going to the nearest exit, and spent time looking for where I was and what police number to call before the gas station attendant just said I should just call 911.)
But this wasn't a situation that needed police/fire/EMS and while urgent, wasn't an emergency.
Every jurisdiction is different, but our state Child Protective Services has an 800 hotline that's easy to find for reporting cases of neglect like this and would be the ideal place to start.
It's only for immediate emergencies. As in, you need help - right now - ! If you're able to take a minute to look up the number for your local police dispatch, then it's not that kind of emergency.
I keep the phone number for police dispatch saved on my cell phone so I can call to eject guests without needing to go back to my desk. You get some great looks on peoples' faces when you threaten to call the cops, they say "Oh yea? Go ahead! Call the cops! I don't care!" and then you call them without moving from that spot while maintaining eye contact.
911 is for situations where you need either police, fire, or ambulance. This situation needs child protective services. In some urban places, they use 311 for such situations. However, we don't know if this is either in an urban or rural area and where in the country it is.
It's not always easy to determine the correct bureaucratic agency (they are very picky about jurisdiction and who does what) to call in an urgent, but not necessarily emergency situation.
However, how do we know he had any rights to be with these children? Could be some weird grandparents'-rights kidnapping
Yeah, I'm the asshole who would have said, "I'm sorry honey. Go tell your grandpa everything here costs more than a dollar and we really only have snacks, not healthy food."
I was in line behind an old geezer at the bank the other day. He wanted into his safe deposit box. The clerk asked for his drivers license and debit card as proof of box ownership. He grumbled when handing over the ID and refused the debit card. So then she asked to send a code to his cell - OMG. He lost his shit on the poor clerk. She’s just trying to safeguard your stuff dude.
People are cray.
Former bank teller here, can confirm that kind of crazy. Always loved to deal with crotchety people that throw a tantrum over ID. I should have been like "Oh, so you don't want me to confirm it's really you and give your $5000 in cash to anyone who pretends to be you?"
I guess I could’ve, but after seeing his temper, I didn’t want to do anything that he’d be able to blame on the little girl. Who knows what punishment she’d get if I were to put those things on his room. I’d rather be out a few dollars than give him a reason to punish a kid that didn’t do anything wrong.
You remind me of a story my parents told me, of when I was about 4 years old and we were visiting a hotel in Mexico. Apparently. there was a little girl there about my age, and we would sit by the pool and talk, while eating egg-salad sandwiches. Said sandwiches I'd order.
It was a simpler time in the 1970s.
Jeez. Even ignoring the kid part, I checked into a hotel on Saturday, had my ID, AARP card (not retired but good for 10% off), and credit card ready and handed it to the FDA. Plus, if was after 3PM and the room wasn't ready so I said no problem and went outside and smoked and read my book for 30 or so minutes. My room was ready soon enough. Some people just make their own miserable lives more difficult than it needs to be.
Dude exactly. Hell, if someone is nice enough and their room isn’t ready when they come in after 3, I’ll offer them an upgrade if it’s available just so they don’t have to wait.
It ain’t hard to be bare-minimum nice lol.
"two shillings" 🤣🤣 I got the Oliver Twist looking sad with his bowl visual in my head. Dude is a dick but your retelling is great. You did the right thing OP, good for you.
As I was reading this, I got a call from someone looking for a room. I quote the rate & tax. "AARP discount?" OK, not a red flag, just a coincidence. I quote the rate & tax, and that there is a deposit ($50.00). "What's that for?" In case you want to charge something to the room. "I'm not going to use anything, I think that's a scam, and I don't want to give it to you." OK, not a *huge* red flag. What you don't use refunds from us at check out. Your bank can take extra time to finish that...and now the red flags come out like the Chinese navy durng Fleet Week. "No, I'm not going to use anything." Then it returns to you. "No, I'm not going to use anything. I'm not going to use you. I'm going to find someplace else." OK, then.
He probably will-while there are almost no hotels in this area that don't take deposits, the number is not zero. He's gonna hafta make a bunch of calls, though; and get told what he doesn't want to hear, many more times. I will enjoy the thought of his mounting frustration, and pending stroke. (He's in luck then! We have a hospital discount that is less then the AARP rate-but he still has to leave a deposit.)
So, it appears that we know where Joe went after leaving your hotel.
I hate that line of thought lol.
“Well I won’t have any incidentals”
GREAT. THEN THERE’S NO REASON YOU SHOULD BE AFRAID OF GIVING ME YOUR CARD, RIGHT?
Just repeated again and again and again. Some people. 🤦🏼♀️
Waaaaayyyyy back in the day when we used to take checks for rooms, CC's started becoming common enough that we required a CC imprint along with every check. People would say, "But my check is good!". I would dig out a small file folder with about a dozen papers in it and say, "These are the checks people told us were good, and we had to charge their credit card after they bounced". Then I would drop a much fatter one with about fifty papers in it, "And this was the last year of people that told us their checks were good before we took a credit card."
Those were the days. My knuckles hurt thinking of those times.
Oh and for the really old bankys. The eraser pen to remove encoding for the proof machine for checks.
I miss that high.
We had one of the manual ones as backup but we had an electric imprinter. It had a hinged back, and you slipped the CC into a clip on one side & the CC slip into the other side. When you pushed it closed, a roller would imprint the CC slip and it would pop back open. My boss found out one day that it would jam if you got your necktie caught in it, though.
Yeah, like 60 some years ago. I used to work in a dime store that used those things that made noise like KER-CHUNK! Then I had to separate out the carbon paper in between after the signature. Stone knives and bear skins.
My dad had a ski shop when I was younger (solid middle of gen x) and not only did I have to use the manual credit card imprinter but I also had to call the credit card company over a certain amount! It was worth it to get new skis every other year.
I was tuning skis and setting up rental equipment when I was like 13. I'm sure that it made some people nervous but I was actually qualified. If I was confident enough to tune my own gear then you had better believe that I could take care of you!
Sometimes you just have to keep repeating yourself until they give in or give up. I don't care if it makes us sound like a robot or "NPC", you're gonna give the effing card or you can leave.
Ya, after a couple times I stop repeating myself, and just make sure they won't be staying. I don't care if after I tell them they aren't staying they capitulate. Nope! You already demonstrated what a problem you will be, Don't want you here!
Poor kids….Must be hard to be more mature than your own grandfather who is acting like a toddler throwing a tantrum
I agree to charge what she took onto the incidentals and if he arks up call the police and say you also have safety concerns for the kids
Yeah, can you believe that?? Joe Biden is just going from hotel to hotel across the continental United States signing executive orders on site to try and ban the use of cash. Craziest shit I’ve ever seen. /s
Thank you for being kind to the child. I grew up with a dad, who felt and treated everyone (even family) as someone out to get him or cheat him, it is so good to see someone showing empathy to the innocent child and not lump them with him.
Bro, there’s a.. “Cum Stained Sheets Inn right across from the Roach Pit Villa Motel that you can gladly check-in to on the other side of town, but all of *our* guests need to present a government ID & CC for incidentals, otherwise, see yo way out!”
Just wrote your script for you. You’re free to use it anytime.
Also, I second the other person who mentioned calling CPS
Yeah, I love when guests tell me they’ll find a hotel that doesn’t require an incidentals deposit or ID lol. Good luck over at the local shmotel six where they probably feed the abundance of bugs living inside their rooms. 😂
Lmao I truly love that those motels all have one thing in common on their Yelp page: dozens of photos of bed bugs uploaded from multiple users 🤣 like thanks for the warning but what did you expect??
Everyone in this thread is assuming that the parents are even in the picture. This is the type of person who has deadbeat children who are unable or unwilling to care for their children but still rails against the government boogeyman for making his life shitty. I’ve seen it all too often.
Job be damned. I would have called his room and laid into him hardcore. "You better get your ass down here and get these kids a proper meal or you'll be getting 3 squares a day in jail." If he didn't, I'd call the cops for neglect.
Sir, the owners of this hotel have the RIGHT to set policies that protect them from financial losses and protect other customers from having unidentifiable rabble run amok in here. If you'd prefer to live in a place where a business owner DOESN'T get to choose how to run their business, you'd best head off to a communist country right now.
I feel for you.
And this is what happens when government thinks that education is the place to save money, rather than invest in having a well educated population.
As a grandfather this makes me angry. There's no way in hell my grandkids go hungry even if I'm not eating. WTF! My job is to spoil them, not act like a spoiled brat.
I would've punched out and had some choice words with that old man after that stunt he pulled with the little girl.
You are a far better FD agent than me OP.
I think your kindness was taken advantage of.
The grandparents were betting on you not turning away dinnerless kids. They obviously knew $1 wouldn’t get them anything.
Sorry you were in that awful situation.
When I was a cashier, I asked a guy for his ID for an alcohol sale.
He told me that when Trump gets into office, he was going to change these stupid rules that takes the rights from the People and gives them to corporations. Ahaha.
>She was embarrassed like she knew that $1 wasn’t enough to buy anything but had to ask anyways. I just said, “y’know what honey, you go and grab a few things for you and your brother to eat and I’ll pay for it.” She was very polite, grabbed a few things, said thank you, and went back upstairs.
I am now expecting that he'll start complaining about hand outs and how kind people are ruining America.
I'm just trying to learn, and for the educational sake of your family can you please state which rights were violated in particular. Please be specific. I just want to learn.
Yessss. I was thinking “well there’s no protected right guaranteed to you that says you have the right to pay cash wherever and whenever you want, but okay.”
Probably the same type of person who cries, “muh free speech!” over everything when it doesn’t even apply lol.
Call the room and tell grandpa that there is a lost child in the lobby. You thought that before you called the police you’d check to see if she was with him.
I feel so bad for those poor kids. At least the brother held his sister while she was scared. It was nice of you to be so generous and let the little girl grabs some items to eat. These grandparents must make their grandkids lived miserable. I’m surprised the parents would trust the grandfather to babysit them. He sounds like he needs the proper care of a nursing home. It’s standard for a hotel to ask for an id and credit card on file.
I've had some asshole start being racist to me and say "it's foreigners like you who are ruining this country" and said "I hope I see you on the road" (implying he wants to Do A Hate Crime).
All because I asked for a credit card bearing his name.
I dub him Racist Truck Bitch.
That Old Entitled Geezer sounds like a DUMBASS SovCit!!!!! I would have told Grandma that she and the grandkids can stay while Overgrown Tantrumming Toddler can GET OUT!!!
That last part with the little girl and not having enough money to buy food for her and her brother… what about the wife? She sounded more like a normal person, at least. I feel so bad for these kids, really hope that this was only because his wife didn’t know about the food situation.
This is ridiculous considering 25 years ago I needed a CC to rent a hotel, so it’s not like it’s new or unusual, he was just looking for a reason to be a jerk, and I would have fed the kids and charged it to the room, because the grandfather said to get food.
Jfc i cannot wait for these boomer ahs to die off. The poor fucking kids! How heartbreaking to have to be more mature than your grandparents before you're even 10.
We get plenty of international travelers with only a passport for ID. And I genuinely don’t even look for an expiration date on a passport. Not even sure where I’d find one on there lol, and sometimes it’s in a language I can’t read.
As long as I can find a picture of you along with your name and country, we’re good. It’s not ideal to not have an address, but sometimes language barriers and cultural norms (ie some other countries have photo ID cards and licenses that don’t include your address) prevent that.
So yes, you can get a room with an old passport and a valid credit card.
Or imagine this, deduct from the $150 CC hold he finally received for incidentals.
“It’s caviar tonight, bitches! I’ll fetch the Chardonnay!”
Exactly, charge it to the room
The only thing about that is, if it’s explained why it was charged, no telling how he’d take it out on those babies
I think you are exactly right. Could lead to unintended consequences.
Yep. I’d be filling out those charges before she got back to the desk with the food. And, if any of it needed to be warmed in a microwave (and, if it existed as an option, there *would* have been), I’d have offered to heat it up for her. (Sorry. Can’t return what’s been opened.) Hell, I’d have told her I’d make dinner for both of them (“make”, not pay) and offer to let them eat in the breakfast area/lobby (none for you, AH) while they watch a movie of their choice on the tv there. Let* granddad think enjoy the free babysitting and think it was on the house or my treat. Nothing on tape would show that I said so when he disputes the amended bill — and grandma’s not gonna mind. Hell, if there’s a homeless guy hanging around the door, I’d be tempted to feed him, too. Call it the AH tax.
I will probably take it out on the little girl and make her life even more miserable 😩
You will or He will?
He would
That's what I would have done.
That is genius, call it a responsibility charge
Thank you for being a kind and caring person in the face of adversity. He might complain that you are what is wrong with this country (lol. What power you have!), but you show what is right with humanity. People feeling compassion and trying to help.
*cough child protective services cough*
Seconded. As a mandated reporter, this is the way.
Y'all are mandated reporters - like teachers are? Tht's very cool!
I’m not mandated via my hotel job-I am also a teacher and have completed my state’s 40hr SA crisis center training. So I’m considered/trained as a mandated reporter from two different avenues.
In some states in the US, everyone is a mandated reporter. If you want to know the rules for your state, here's a page you can review. https://www.childwelfare.gov/search/?q=Mandated%20reporter
What’s disturbing to me is he let a small child walk around in a hotel by herself. When you stay at a hotel, you have zero idea about who else is in that hotel and what trouble you could run into. At least send the older kid with her!
Yes, among other things it's endangerment.
Absolutely
He sent a seven year old to front desk with a dollar to buy food for two? he knew exactly what he was doing. he put you into a lose lose situation. turn the kid away, and you confirm, this is proof, in his mind that you are the problem. you buy the kids a meal, out of your own pocket, you feel better, but you still lost in his mindset. you could have gone with the nuclear option. call 911. Say, I have an Unaccompanied Minor in my lobby begging for food. You would have been "technically" correct, but your karma would take a Huge hit. I would have done what you did. If doing the right thing, and being out $10, so be it. Maybe you'll be remembered as that "nice person" at the desk who bought us food.
Yeah. It occurred to me that he might’ve done that purposely. It was a shitty situation, but I wasn’t going to engage in a power struggle at this little girl’s expense. She didn’t deserve to be treated like a pawn in some fucked up game. If I could fuck with Joe face to face, that’s great. But I’m not putting a child in the middle of something like that. I’d been put in that situation before as a child, and I know how it feels.
You did the right thing and you have a heart of gold. This is why I am extra nice and polite to front desk workers when I stay in a hotel. You all are out there on the front lines dealing with the absolute dregs of humanity. Don't give that miserable loser another thought.
Thank you! 💛
You could have put the amount on INCIDENTALS and charged the credit card 🤣🤣🤣
Honestly it sounds to me like you won that power struggle. You can't even feed your own grandkids? Here let me get that for you, you worthless excuse of a guardian.
You wouldn't be putting the child in the middle of anything. You would have been helping the young girl. Edit to add: Thank you for doing what you did. It was definitely the right thing to do
No, the nuclear option would be to ask the 7 year old for the parents phone number and anonymously calling to say you witnessed the 7 year old begging for food.
I would have done this then DoorDashed some burgers and fries.
No way to know the parents were any less shitty than the grandparents..
> Say, I have an Unaccompanied Minor in my lobby begging for food. You would have been "technically" correct, but your karma would take a Huge hit. You've got someone who's been extremely resistant to showing ID, with kids he's unaware he has to feed and no apparent viable plan to do so. That's enough that's both true and sketchy-sounding, and the guy being a jerk about it didn't buy him any benefit of the doubt.
He knew a dollar wasn’t enough. He knew. Put the kids in the middle of his little tit for tat. Dunno what the wife was thinking though.
If she has been with him this long she knows exactly who he is and is probably numb to it
That’s a good point. Something ain’t right and while kidnapping is unlikely, better safe than sorry. There’s a solid chance Joe would go off on the cops.
Happy cake day 🎂
Meanwhile Grandad is up in the room chortling "Hah, I got that idiot on the FD to buy the kids food so I don't have to!" I would have been SO tempted to take the nuclear option.
“Honey! Help me tie this onion to my belt.”
That was the style at the time.
I can see it being the opposite- He sent the girl down with a dollar thinking about how he was going to be able to cry to anyone who would listen that, “I sent my granddaughter down with money to buy food and the stuck-up hotel workers refused! What’s this country coming to!?” and then was disappointed she actually got food. I’ve met people that like that and they genuinely hate good news because it interferes with their persecution complex. Years ago there was this guy at one of our church dinners. He wasn’t a member of our church and I’d never seen him before, but someone said he was related to one of the older ladies of our congregation. He was telling a couple people about a negative urban legend targeting a soda company. I had just recently learned it was false, so I told him, “Oh, don’t worry, that one has actually been debunked! I read an article about it and it’s all a misunderstanding.” I thought he’d be relieved and happy, but instead he glared at me in anger and left without another word. I didn’t realize at the time, but he was one of those who tells negative stories to feed into their martyr complex. He wanted to impress people that “Oh, I’m just a moral and upright person who’s appalled by all these terrible things happening in the world!” and then I‘d inadvertently ruined his plan by telling the truth. Later I saw the guy yelling at his family members, including an elderly woman who might have been his mother, over every little irritation. Charming :-/
I have a question for Americans: is 911 not the emergency number? I keep seeing posts and comments regarding calling 911 in situations where it is clearly not a life or death moment. Surely there is a non-emergency number to use.
It is the emergency number, but if you're not in a situation where you can find the local non emergency number (they are local, not another 3 digit number), you can call to be transferred. If at all possible do find and call the non emergency number if it's not an emergency so you can leave their lines open, though.
Thanks to you and others who replied. I appreciate the clarification. In Australia, our emergency number is more clearly for emergencies only so I was a little confused. 
It's generally the emergency number, but in some places they also funnel everyone looking for those sorts of services through 911 (some might do so all the time, some after-hours), regardless of urgency. For my two cents (pet rant time!), that's the way it should be everywhere, and a person shouldn't second guess or feel bad about calling 911 if they do need police/fire/ambulance services, no matter the urgency. Having to distinguish when it really counts and when it doesn't is a recipe for second-guessing and wasting time when it actually does count.
Spouse of a former 911 dispatcher. Lives are lost when dumbasses clog the lines with stupid things like barking dogs and lost car keys. People shouldn't feel bad about calling for actual emergencies, but they should face consequences when they call for bullshit reasons.
The problem is that during an actual emergency is the last time you want to be spending time thinking "Is this an *actual* emergency?" or doing the wrong thing when it is. Just having the distinction invites that type of thinking. That's a question better answered by the professionals who aren't mid-crisis than leaving it with someone in the midst of something with nothing but the vague threshold of "*maybe* an emergency" to work off of. It'd be better to facilitate the 911 operators handling more callers and quickly shunting off them off to non-emergency pipelines when it's not an emergency. I've been on the other end of it, which is where I get my position on the matter from. I had my smoke alarms start going off at 4AM but there weren't any other indicators, so I fumbled around and eventually called the firehouse direct line (which might not have even been the right one.) They told me to just call 911 because, yes, that was an emergency that should go through dispatch even without other signs. I can see the same sort of thing happening with all sorts of medical, fire, or criminal situations, where someone in the heat of indecision chooses modestly and wastes valuable time fumbling with non-emergency numbers. (Come to think of it, it happened a second time, too. I hit a deer and kept going to the nearest exit, and spent time looking for where I was and what police number to call before the gas station attendant just said I should just call 911.)
911 operator can route you away if they deem that appropriate. Let them know ASAP, and be patient. But if you think you could call- call.
But this wasn't a situation that needed police/fire/EMS and while urgent, wasn't an emergency. Every jurisdiction is different, but our state Child Protective Services has an 800 hotline that's easy to find for reporting cases of neglect like this and would be the ideal place to start.
It's only for immediate emergencies. As in, you need help - right now - ! If you're able to take a minute to look up the number for your local police dispatch, then it's not that kind of emergency. I keep the phone number for police dispatch saved on my cell phone so I can call to eject guests without needing to go back to my desk. You get some great looks on peoples' faces when you threaten to call the cops, they say "Oh yea? Go ahead! Call the cops! I don't care!" and then you call them without moving from that spot while maintaining eye contact.
911 is for situations where you need either police, fire, or ambulance. This situation needs child protective services. In some urban places, they use 311 for such situations. However, we don't know if this is either in an urban or rural area and where in the country it is.
It's not always easy to determine the correct bureaucratic agency (they are very picky about jurisdiction and who does what) to call in an urgent, but not necessarily emergency situation. However, how do we know he had any rights to be with these children? Could be some weird grandparents'-rights kidnapping
The police don't care. If the kids aren't in a life or death situation, they don't care.
Not always. Years ago when my parents were in Maryland 911 was the only option.
Yeah, I'm the asshole who would have said, "I'm sorry honey. Go tell your grandpa everything here costs more than a dollar and we really only have snacks, not healthy food."
1000% I'd have called the cops. Karma is imaginary and granddad is straight up abusing those kids.
I was in line behind an old geezer at the bank the other day. He wanted into his safe deposit box. The clerk asked for his drivers license and debit card as proof of box ownership. He grumbled when handing over the ID and refused the debit card. So then she asked to send a code to his cell - OMG. He lost his shit on the poor clerk. She’s just trying to safeguard your stuff dude. People are cray.
Former bank teller here, can confirm that kind of crazy. Always loved to deal with crotchety people that throw a tantrum over ID. I should have been like "Oh, so you don't want me to confirm it's really you and give your $5000 in cash to anyone who pretends to be you?"
Just a thought. Could you have charged the food to their room? Make the grandfather pay for the food after all, instead of you.
I guess I could’ve, but after seeing his temper, I didn’t want to do anything that he’d be able to blame on the little girl. Who knows what punishment she’d get if I were to put those things on his room. I’d rather be out a few dollars than give him a reason to punish a kid that didn’t do anything wrong.
A 7 year old wouldn't be authorized to charge something to the room. The charges wouldn't be valid.
You remind me of a story my parents told me, of when I was about 4 years old and we were visiting a hotel in Mexico. Apparently. there was a little girl there about my age, and we would sit by the pool and talk, while eating egg-salad sandwiches. Said sandwiches I'd order. It was a simpler time in the 1970s.
Jeez. Even ignoring the kid part, I checked into a hotel on Saturday, had my ID, AARP card (not retired but good for 10% off), and credit card ready and handed it to the FDA. Plus, if was after 3PM and the room wasn't ready so I said no problem and went outside and smoked and read my book for 30 or so minutes. My room was ready soon enough. Some people just make their own miserable lives more difficult than it needs to be.
Dude exactly. Hell, if someone is nice enough and their room isn’t ready when they come in after 3, I’ll offer them an upgrade if it’s available just so they don’t have to wait. It ain’t hard to be bare-minimum nice lol.
"two shillings" 🤣🤣 I got the Oliver Twist looking sad with his bowl visual in my head. Dude is a dick but your retelling is great. You did the right thing OP, good for you.
I remember when I couldn't reserve a room with a debit card, much less trying to do it with cash.
As I was reading this, I got a call from someone looking for a room. I quote the rate & tax. "AARP discount?" OK, not a red flag, just a coincidence. I quote the rate & tax, and that there is a deposit ($50.00). "What's that for?" In case you want to charge something to the room. "I'm not going to use anything, I think that's a scam, and I don't want to give it to you." OK, not a *huge* red flag. What you don't use refunds from us at check out. Your bank can take extra time to finish that...and now the red flags come out like the Chinese navy durng Fleet Week. "No, I'm not going to use anything." Then it returns to you. "No, I'm not going to use anything. I'm not going to use you. I'm going to find someplace else." OK, then. He probably will-while there are almost no hotels in this area that don't take deposits, the number is not zero. He's gonna hafta make a bunch of calls, though; and get told what he doesn't want to hear, many more times. I will enjoy the thought of his mounting frustration, and pending stroke. (He's in luck then! We have a hospital discount that is less then the AARP rate-but he still has to leave a deposit.) So, it appears that we know where Joe went after leaving your hotel.
I hate that line of thought lol. “Well I won’t have any incidentals” GREAT. THEN THERE’S NO REASON YOU SHOULD BE AFRAID OF GIVING ME YOUR CARD, RIGHT? Just repeated again and again and again. Some people. 🤦🏼♀️
Waaaaayyyyy back in the day when we used to take checks for rooms, CC's started becoming common enough that we required a CC imprint along with every check. People would say, "But my check is good!". I would dig out a small file folder with about a dozen papers in it and say, "These are the checks people told us were good, and we had to charge their credit card after they bounced". Then I would drop a much fatter one with about fifty papers in it, "And this was the last year of people that told us their checks were good before we took a credit card."
Imprint! That was a long time ago. 😎
My current property is the only one I've worked at that didn't have one of those imprinters at some point.
Those were the days. My knuckles hurt thinking of those times. Oh and for the really old bankys. The eraser pen to remove encoding for the proof machine for checks. I miss that high.
We had one of the manual ones as backup but we had an electric imprinter. It had a hinged back, and you slipped the CC into a clip on one side & the CC slip into the other side. When you pushed it closed, a roller would imprint the CC slip and it would pop back open. My boss found out one day that it would jam if you got your necktie caught in it, though.
That’s why they were nicknamed “Knuckle Busters”
Yeah, like 60 some years ago. I used to work in a dime store that used those things that made noise like KER-CHUNK! Then I had to separate out the carbon paper in between after the signature. Stone knives and bear skins.
My dad had a ski shop when I was younger (solid middle of gen x) and not only did I have to use the manual credit card imprinter but I also had to call the credit card company over a certain amount! It was worth it to get new skis every other year. I was tuning skis and setting up rental equipment when I was like 13. I'm sure that it made some people nervous but I was actually qualified. If I was confident enough to tune my own gear then you had better believe that I could take care of you!
Did you have electricity and running water at the home on the range you grew up in?
Every time the guy says he won't give a deposit, the deposit goes up another $100.
Sometimes you just have to keep repeating yourself until they give in or give up. I don't care if it makes us sound like a robot or "NPC", you're gonna give the effing card or you can leave.
Ya, after a couple times I stop repeating myself, and just make sure they won't be staying. I don't care if after I tell them they aren't staying they capitulate. Nope! You already demonstrated what a problem you will be, Don't want you here!
Poor kids….Must be hard to be more mature than your own grandfather who is acting like a toddler throwing a tantrum I agree to charge what she took onto the incidentals and if he arks up call the police and say you also have safety concerns for the kids
Nasty old dude!
Yes. Hotels never asked for credit cards before Biden became president. /s
Yeah, can you believe that?? Joe Biden is just going from hotel to hotel across the continental United States signing executive orders on site to try and ban the use of cash. Craziest shit I’ve ever seen. /s
It’s insane!
What a miserable old turd he is! Grandpa? Nope - GRANDPOO!
Thank you for being kind to the child. I grew up with a dad, who felt and treated everyone (even family) as someone out to get him or cheat him, it is so good to see someone showing empathy to the innocent child and not lump them with him.
I don't know how anyone can have the energy to constantly be angry or paranoid every single day.
Bro, there’s a.. “Cum Stained Sheets Inn right across from the Roach Pit Villa Motel that you can gladly check-in to on the other side of town, but all of *our* guests need to present a government ID & CC for incidentals, otherwise, see yo way out!” Just wrote your script for you. You’re free to use it anytime. Also, I second the other person who mentioned calling CPS
Yeah, I love when guests tell me they’ll find a hotel that doesn’t require an incidentals deposit or ID lol. Good luck over at the local shmotel six where they probably feed the abundance of bugs living inside their rooms. 😂
Lmao I truly love that those motels all have one thing in common on their Yelp page: dozens of photos of bed bugs uploaded from multiple users 🤣 like thanks for the warning but what did you expect??
Everyone in this thread is assuming that the parents are even in the picture. This is the type of person who has deadbeat children who are unable or unwilling to care for their children but still rails against the government boogeyman for making his life shitty. I’ve seen it all too often.
Job be damned. I would have called his room and laid into him hardcore. "You better get your ass down here and get these kids a proper meal or you'll be getting 3 squares a day in jail." If he didn't, I'd call the cops for neglect.
Sir, the owners of this hotel have the RIGHT to set policies that protect them from financial losses and protect other customers from having unidentifiable rabble run amok in here. If you'd prefer to live in a place where a business owner DOESN'T get to choose how to run their business, you'd best head off to a communist country right now.
I feel for you. And this is what happens when government thinks that education is the place to save money, rather than invest in having a well educated population.
As a grandfather this makes me angry. There's no way in hell my grandkids go hungry even if I'm not eating. WTF! My job is to spoil them, not act like a spoiled brat.
I'm scared to think about what other things those children have to endure. I would have made a telephone call.
r/boomersbeingfools
I had to do a double take on the subreddit because I immediately thought “boomer.”
That was so kind of you to do that for those children. Thank you so much.
I would've punched out and had some choice words with that old man after that stunt he pulled with the little girl. You are a far better FD agent than me OP.
He sounds unstable.
I may or may not have snorted at “shillings”. I don’t know why I found that so damn funny.
I think your kindness was taken advantage of. The grandparents were betting on you not turning away dinnerless kids. They obviously knew $1 wouldn’t get them anything. Sorry you were in that awful situation.
When I was a cashier, I asked a guy for his ID for an alcohol sale. He told me that when Trump gets into office, he was going to change these stupid rules that takes the rights from the People and gives them to corporations. Ahaha.
You're a good person.
>She was embarrassed like she knew that $1 wasn’t enough to buy anything but had to ask anyways. I just said, “y’know what honey, you go and grab a few things for you and your brother to eat and I’ll pay for it.” She was very polite, grabbed a few things, said thank you, and went back upstairs. I am now expecting that he'll start complaining about hand outs and how kind people are ruining America.
I hope you charged the card for the food you gave her. (And you are a very nice person.)
Wow this is one of the worst stories I've read on here.
You must be new then. 😛
It's one of the best I've read, but only in terms of writing style and kindness shown, unfortunately.
I'm just trying to learn, and for the educational sake of your family can you please state which rights were violated in particular. Please be specific. I just want to learn.
Yessss. I was thinking “well there’s no protected right guaranteed to you that says you have the right to pay cash wherever and whenever you want, but okay.” Probably the same type of person who cries, “muh free speech!” over everything when it doesn’t even apply lol.
Call the room and tell grandpa that there is a lost child in the lobby. You thought that before you called the police you’d check to see if she was with him.
That would make things worse for the poor kids; and also she’s not really lost given she’s in a he building and he knows where she is.
Yeaaah that’s a CPS call right there.
Wooooooow. What a total and complete asshat, those poor kids.
Some people pick strange hills to defend.
He'll be looking up at his family when he passes.
I feel so bad for those poor kids. At least the brother held his sister while she was scared. It was nice of you to be so generous and let the little girl grabs some items to eat. These grandparents must make their grandkids lived miserable. I’m surprised the parents would trust the grandfather to babysit them. He sounds like he needs the proper care of a nursing home. It’s standard for a hotel to ask for an id and credit card on file.
#sorry I thought this was America
'MURICA!
You're getting a room, not voting in a federal election. I need your ID.
I have to show my ID to vote in a federal election. Bet he doesn't complain at his polling place about *that*.
I've had some asshole start being racist to me and say "it's foreigners like you who are ruining this country" and said "I hope I see you on the road" (implying he wants to Do A Hate Crime). All because I asked for a credit card bearing his name. I dub him Racist Truck Bitch.
That Old Entitled Geezer sounds like a DUMBASS SovCit!!!!! I would have told Grandma that she and the grandkids can stay while Overgrown Tantrumming Toddler can GET OUT!!!
Thank you. Would a debit card be enough?
And why the fuck isnt Grandma standing up for her grandkids at least, and feeding them?
Grandma’s probably scared of him too smdh
boomerism and lead tetracel poisoning for decades will make for "charming" inDUHviduals
That last part with the little girl and not having enough money to buy food for her and her brother… what about the wife? She sounded more like a normal person, at least. I feel so bad for these kids, really hope that this was only because his wife didn’t know about the food situation.
Thank you for the info. Much appreciated.
Grandpa is suffering from the Carlson, Hannity effect!
This is ridiculous considering 25 years ago I needed a CC to rent a hotel, so it’s not like it’s new or unusual, he was just looking for a reason to be a jerk, and I would have fed the kids and charged it to the room, because the grandfather said to get food.
See also r/BoomersBeingFools
Just a friendly reminder. This isn’t a “boomer” issue. This is an “angry old fart asshole” issue.
Abusive* old fart
Jfc i cannot wait for these boomer ahs to die off. The poor fucking kids! How heartbreaking to have to be more mature than your grandparents before you're even 10.
What a pissy bitch.
Thank you
Thank you for response.
You should of had the kids come down to eat. That way you would be feeding only them and not the AH.
I don't have a picture ID, just an outdated passport. Disabled, very difficult to get valid ID at DMV. Could I still rent a room?
We get plenty of international travelers with only a passport for ID. And I genuinely don’t even look for an expiration date on a passport. Not even sure where I’d find one on there lol, and sometimes it’s in a language I can’t read. As long as I can find a picture of you along with your name and country, we’re good. It’s not ideal to not have an address, but sometimes language barriers and cultural norms (ie some other countries have photo ID cards and licenses that don’t include your address) prevent that. So yes, you can get a room with an old passport and a valid credit card.
Would a debit card be acceptable?
Yep!
Would a debit card be acceptable?
Would a debit card be acceptable?
He's using the kids to game the system, my friend. And succeeded.
How did you not call CPS or the cops?!