Why did you have your kid call the Desk?

[BroSCFischer]

At about 7AM I got a call from one of the rooms. The person on the other end of the line was clearly a juvenile. He informs me that the toilet is clogged in his room. As maintenance does not come in until 8AM, and I can't leave the desk area (I have to c/o guests/ refill breakfast) I inform them that there is a plunger at the desk if they would like to come get it.

Not two minutes later the phone rings again, and it's the same room, but there is an adult woman on the line now. She tells me that the toilet is not working, I inform her that our maintenance staff doesn't come in until 8AM. She says that's fine, and hangs up.

Until this point she has been a minor annoyance, but she earns her place on the at about 8:10AM when she comes to the desk and complains to my manager that it was rude and inappropriate for me to tell her 10 year old son that there was a plunger at the desk.

First thing that popped into my head was the question in the title.

SC

[BowserKoopa1]

So you were rude for giving her a plunger and trying to help her out when maintenance did not come in until 8? Yeah um, this lady is obviously an idiot. I'm betting she thought you gave bad customer service because you did not go up to her room and fix the toilet.

[Cyberguy]

Someone's been watching too much Spongebob.

"We will never deny a guest, even the most ridiculous request."

[Bright_Star]

A 10 year old can use a plunger...lol.

[Zoom]

Maybe she thought it was rude for you to say, "We have a plunger over HERE, YOU come and get it, because we're not sending anyone over there to sully OUR hands." Which you didn't, but the power of inference is not to be sneezed (or flushed) at.

[raudf]

A 10 year old can use a plunger...lol.

My son used the plunger when he was 5, because he wanted to "help mommy." He did just fine, because he watched me like a hawk when I did it. Now he just goes and gets the plunger without comment.

The question here is, did mommy know how to use the plunger? Or is daddy the only one in the household who knows how to plunge?

[Shalom]

When I was growing up, that apparatus was known as a "plumber's helper".

I was newly out of high school and looking for a job, and was going through the want ads to see if there was anything I was qualified to do (wound up installing burglar alarms, which I was not qualified to do, but whatever) and my mother pointed out one ad to me. "Here, someone's looking for a 'plumber's helper'. You wanna be a plunger?"

I was also confused somewhat when in an old novel I was reading, some person was referred to as a plunger. Eventually figured out from context that this was a competitive swimmer, not a plumbing implement.

[MoonCat]

"Rude and inappropriate"? Is she clear on a what a plunger is used for?

[XCashier]

"Rude and inappropriate"? Is she clear on a what a plunger is used for?

Teddy said it was a hat,
So I put it on.
Now Dad is saying,
"Where the heck's
the toilet plunger gone?"
-Shel Silverstein

[Cyberguy]

Teddy said it was a hat,
So I put it on.
Now Dad is saying,
"Where the heck's
the toilet plunger gone?"
-Shel Silverstein

Shel rocks.

People need to read his poems more. I'm convinced that if these people had read "Smart" when they were kids, we wouldn't have so many SCs running around today.

[Jester]

A 10 year old can use a plunger...lol.

This is true. I did. When I was about that age or so. Not one of my better New Year's Eves....

[NateTheChops]

The question here is, did mommy know how to use the plunger? Or is daddy the only one in the household who knows how to plunge?

Fighting... fighting urge to pervert... sentence... must make it up to Lucifer... later.

Growing up I had a tenancy to, well, lets just say that prune juice was kept on stock as a warning. I learned to use the plunger early and often.

[Zellie Crescent]

Damn it! You beat me to it, my mind immediately went to a dirty place as soon as I read that.

[SkullBash]

I wonder if she took the "We have a plunger at the front desk" as if you flat out said "Do it yourself, you lazy kid." But then again, she would have known why you made the suggestion after letting her know when maintenance would be in. Nutty people...

[Arcus]

I spent a week in a hotel with my boss that somehow managed to plug the toilet 2-3 times a day. He always told me to call and have someone come up and fix it. After the 4th day the desk answered with just "Let me guess." I chuckled and told him that it happened again. I then asked a question that I think surprised him. I said "We are going to be here for 4 more days. Do you think that maintenance could spare a plunger so I don't have to keep calling?" It took less than 5 minutes for them to get me one. I think they were afraid I would change my mind.