Interesting Anecdote
One stormy night many years ago, an elderly man
and his wife entered the lobby of a small hotel in
Philadelphia. Trying to get out of the rain, the couple
approached the front desk hoping to get some shelter
for the night. “Could you possibly give us a room here?”
the husband asked.
The clerk, a friendly man with a winning smile, looked
at the couple and explained that there were three
conventions in town. “All of our rooms are taken,” the
clerk said. “But I can’t send a nice couple like you out
into the rain at one o’clock in the morning. Would you
perhaps be willing to sleep in my room? It’s not exactly
a suite, but it will be good enough to make you folks
comfortable for the night.”
When the couple declined, the young man pressed on.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll make out just fine,” the clerk
told them.
So the couple agreed. As he paid his bill the next morning,
the elderly man said to the clerk, “You are the kind of
manager who should be the boss of the best hotel in
the United States. Maybe someday I’ll build one for you.”
The clerk looked at them and smiled. The three of them
had a good laugh. As they drove away, the elderly couple
agreed that the helpful clerk was indeed exceptional, as
finding people who are both friendly and helpful isn’t easy.
Two years passed. The clerk had almost forgotten the
incident when he received a letter from the old man. It
recalled that stormy night and enclosed a round-trip
ticket to New York, asking the young man to pay them
a visit. The old man met him in New York, and led him
to the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. He then
pointed to a great new building there, a palace of reddish
stone, with turrets and watchtowers thrusting up to the
sky. “That,” said the older man, “is the hotel I have just
built for you to manage.”
“You must be joking,” the young man said.
“I can assure you I am not,” said the older man, a sly
smile playing around his mouth. The older man’s name
was William Waldorf Astor, and the magnificent
structure was the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
The young clerk who became its first manager was
George C. Boldt. This young clerk never foresaw the
turn of events that would lead him to become the
manager of one of the world’s most glamorous hotels.
And the lesson is……….treat everyone with love, grace
and respect, and you cannot fail!
– Author Unknown