News and notes from around the interweb:
- Hawaii looking to increase hotel taxes
- Forget toilet paper there now appears to be a boba shortage
- Former CEO of Star Alliance airline Asiana has been fined for refusing menstrual leave to flight attendants (HT: Paddle Your Own Kanoo)
- St. Croix’s the Buccaneer will become a Wyndham I’m not sure the property lives up to its reputation, but it’s more desirable than other hotels on an island that you’d think would have nicer accommodations than it does. This will be one of the best Wyndhams you can use points for.
- The Covid-19 culture that is Thailand. There’s no national lockdown, but individual provinces can impose their own restrictions. In Bangkok they’re closing movie theaters, bars, spas, parks, zoos and pools among other things. And the Prime Minister has been fined for violating the local mask mandate. Of course Thailand once forced out a prime minister ostensibly because he had hosted a television cooking show… (HT: @crucker)
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha was among the first to be fined for the offense on Monday, when the rule took effect in Bangkok. A photo on his official Facebook page showed him maskless as he chaired a meeting about COVID-19 vaccinations, drawing criticism online.
The city’s governor, Aswin Kwanmuang, said he, the city police chief and another officer went to collect a 6,000 baht ($190) fine from Prayuth, since it was his his first offense under rule. The incriminating photo was deleted from the prime minister’s account.
- New Alaska Airlines diversity livery.
Diversity? All I see are human beings. All of whom have anuses (not pictured).
I don’t feel sorry for the Customer… They were being obnoxious….
I feel sorry for Front Desk Clerk who has to deal with being treated like this by self-righteous customers…. And the Customer needs to learn taht they will get much better treatment at hotels & airlines being NICE. NO-ONE WANTS TO HELP A JERK!!!
Gary – the person in the video is bi-polar and is seeking help. The instigator is a well-known right wing troll that used homophobic slurs before he started filming. I recommend you remove the video.
https://twitter.com/AriCohn/status/1386776413831933955?s=20
These days many feel its okay to be abusive and start filming everything to get few clicks and likes. People need to learn again about being compassionate , loving and letting go of small small things rather than making it a big mountain of a mole.
Humanity itself is a race, we don’t need to subdivide anymore than that.
Feel sorry for the frontdesk clerk who seems to be having a hard day.
The customer admitted that the employee’s company screwed up, not the employee – so why the need to bully the man? Total power trip -this is the same kind of person that will purposely take a poop in the hotel pool to feel power.
In case the customer didn’t realize, there is a labor shortage and most businesses are forced to lower their hiring standards. I praise the employee for working instead of taking stimulus pork.
What airport is the Alaska plane at? Tucson?
Big fan of your content Gary, but this Holiday Inn front desk agent went on Reddit and shared that he suffers from Bipolar Disorder along with Scizophrenia. He also claims he was called multiple homophobic slurs by the customer that were not captured in the video.
It’s pretty sad that some people on Twitter are using it as an example of poor customer service, and even more disgustingly, some truly low-life people are claiming it is racist.
Broadcast News was a great flick, but “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore.” was from Network.
@ Gary — I think you should take the HI Express thing down. This guy obviously needs help (or a different job), not ridicule.
I agree with Gene, I feel bad for the FD agent. The guy recording needs to know when to stop, not sure why he decided to upload this as well.
This worker obviously has some sort of breakdown, either emotional or mental. The fact that you re- broadcast it is pathetic. This blog is run by one of the best intellectual aviation minds on a self run blog. You could really set yourself above the rest if you focused on that.
But then Gary consistently runs these types of articles. How many clicks is worth this guy’s dignity? If you are this guy and the customer WAS at fault (or not) this defines him. Act like a F’n adult Gary.
I agree with previous comments. PULL THE HOLIDAY INN VIDEO!!
I was expecting some @hole front desk agent to be yelling at people and instead it’s an @hole customer just berating a young, probably untrained employee.
Really disappointed you posted this video Gary. If it’s staged why would you amplify? If it’s not, it shows a real lack of empathy from you.
People have no idea about the level of crap that employees tolerate at limited service hotels.
I once got friendly with the front desk at a Hampton Inn. At one point she told me she liked working at Hampton Inn better and I knew she was talking about the clientele, so I asked her about it. She admitted than when working the front desk at La Quinta and Best Western she had, among other things, literally been spat on.
@ Joseph N. — Hampton Inn is better than “a limited service hotel”? I though Hampton Inn WAS a limited service hotel.
Gary, the video about the Holiday Inn Express employee represented very poor taste, even by your (low) standards.
That Holiday Inn CUSTOMER should be banned for life from all IHG properties.
Shame on that customer for treating that front desk employee like a dog. And he uploaded it online, too.
Agreed with the comments on taking this down. I would sympathize with the hotel clerk as well. When the person recording wonders why people shoot up malls, schools, and other public areas, this is why: when people have given up and fear, anger, and depression is all they think exists rather than empathy and compassion. I’m a fan of this blog but this is very poor taste.
The Holiday Inn video will go even more viral when the desk clerk gets deemed a racist and gets cancelled.
Cut the crap about there being a human race. You could say the same for there being a dog race. It’s foolish. Race is real. Breeds are real. Race produces distinct features that shape who we are. It gives us our look (facial structure/skull shape), our hair texture, our disposition, our voice (races sound different no matter what language they first learned), physical performance characteristics (who runs fast vs who throws a football better/swims better), and etc. Our race determines what our kids look like. Our race plays a role in our behavior and intellect. Average IQ and violent crime rates are different between races.
We shouldn’t pretend a Dalmatian is the same as a pit bull. They are both dogs but distinct with distinct traits and appearance. If you think a pit bull is the same or equal to a Dalmatian or poodle, you are not a thinking being. They are different. Who is better is a matter of opinion. Same with the races. Let’s stop lying to ourselves and the public.
These type of videos show why there is a need for a personal copyright of your body. Real Conservatives believe in individual freedom of body/property from government intervention: Your body your choice. You are supposed to own your own body; no one else. This concept also extends to your likeness. No one should be able to publicly release recordings of you without your permission. People filming you are capturing something they don’t own.
We’d be much better off if people weren’t allowed to publicly release videos of people without permission. I assume there may be an argument for allowing videos that blur faces/distinct physical features (a very distinct tattoo on the body) and distinct voices. However, filming someone with their identity for the world to see can ruin someone’s life. If there is an interaction, it is between you and me. It is not intended for the world to see. Free speech means communicating in verbal or textual form. Transmitting recorded video of someone you didn’t have permission to film is a different story. People ought to be able to record (without being criminalized) as evidence against false accusations or whatever, but not release it to the public.
Very importantly, this should not apply to government workers. A cop signs up for a public job voluntarily and is paid to do it in public. People releasing videos is matter of public safety to hold cops accountable. Individual civilians don’t sign up for those public positions.
The government has always been evil. There have been thugs running around in the U.S. for 100 years. However, the western public in the U.S. was better off without individuals recording other individuals and putting it on social media. The only benefit is more police accountability, although, groups like BLM tend to focus on cases that don’t deserve attention and ignore actual abuse by police because it doesn’t fit into their narrative.