Unexpected Kindness Surrounds Me
And low, he did mark the passing of his 42nd tour of a fairly typical main sequence star by sitting in his hotel room alone, drinking forgettable instant coffee, eating cheap chocolate, and writing an insufferably introspective blog post.
Today was my birthday. 42 years ago my Mum gave birth to me at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford, England. For a while they thought there was something wrong with my head, but then a doctor overhead my Nan mentioning that they could never find hats to fit my Dad when he was young, and any hope that I had a colossal “evil genius” brain was dashed.
I bought doughnuts at the nearby grocery store en-route to the office this morning, but didn't tell my temporary pupils (I'm here to teach, mentor, and confuse) that it was my birthday. I managed to put away three of them during the day, which perhaps explains why I feel vaguely sick now – although that could have more to do with the quantity of chocolate I just pigged.
Arriving back at the hotel this evening, I was stunned to discover a large Amazon box, several envelopes, a gift wrapped cake, and a foil balloon with “Happy Birthday” emblazoned on it. I opened the cards immediately, and discovered one from each of my children – it's hard to describe how emotional I got, seeing their spidery handwriting – but quite unexpectedly I did. Next was the Amazon parcel, which contained a new Kindle – Amazon released the 7th generation Kindles a few weeks ago – I only wanted the basic model, and mentioned it in passing about a month ago. I can't believe my other half remembered.
After calling home, I wandered down to the hotel bar, ordered a drink and something for dinner, and found myself a table. The lovely lady that runs here there and everywere around the hotel brought my drink over, and quietly said “Happy Birthday” as she left – her face bursting into the biggest smile. By the time the food arrived at the table – an amazing vegetable lasagne that was every bit as good as my other half makes – I had learned of the story behind the balloon, one of the cards, and the cake.
It turned out my other half had sat with the children late last week, and ordered a cake and balloon from a company online that promised to deliver anywhere. The company they used failed spectacularly, and got in touchyesterdayblaming their courier. My other half then emailed the hotel I am staying in, and asked if they could source a cake locally. This is where my chin hit the floor... on her way to work this morning, the lady that delivered dinner to my table went and bought a cake, a balloon, a card, and wrote the card out from the children. She then placed all of it in my room.
After the food arrived at my table, I couldn't help stopping the lady to thank her – she shrugged, smiled, and said “Nae bother” in the sweetest voice you've ever heard. This place is amazing. The people that work here are amazing.After spending so many work trips holed up in big-name chain hotels, it's really quite wonderful to stay somewhere where the staff care – where what they do is more than “just a job”.
Of course now I'm trying to figure out what I can get them when I leave. Something to say thankyou for everything they have done.