Some nights in hospitality leave you questioning everything about human behavior.
What would you do if you found someone’s unconscious daughter in a hotel hallway and their mother screamed at you for calling an ambulance?
Would you still feel like you did the right thing?
In the following story, a hotel worker’s attempt to save a life reveals a shocking secret and an unforgettable confrontation.
So, I worked as night manager at a large hotel where we had four overnight staff members: myself (MOD), a cleaner / houseman, the night auditor, and a security guard. The guard’s duty was to continuously walk the (more than 8 less than 12 floors) for noise incidents.
Our hotel is very close to a plaza that is FILLED with bars, including a very sketchy country bar known for over serving and not checking IDs (this is Canada; the legal drinking age is 19).
We see 3-4 ladies in their late 40s and a younger girl barely legal (we later find out the daughter of one of the older ladies) leave shortly after 11, dressed for the country bar for sure. I thought it was a little weird to go clubbing with your mom and her friends, but whatever, you do you.
The security guard found someone unresponsive in the hallway.
Just before 1 a.m., the younger girl and one of the older ladies return.
It’s pretty obvious that the younger girl is quite drunk, but they are quiet, so I don’t hassle them on their way to the elevators. Twenty-ish minutes later, the older lady is heading back out to party with her friends.
After another twenty-ish minutes, we get a call from the security guard that a woman is passed out on the floor in the hallway. Could I go up to back him up?
I head up to the floor in question and sure enough, slumped against a room door is the young lady from earlier. She is unresponsive to our verbal commands, and then she starts throwing up on herself. We roll her (we have medical gloves on at this point; thank God we keep them on us at all times) into the recovery position and call an ambulance.
The mother was very mad that they called an ambulance.
While waiting for the Ambulance, the mother and her friends return to their rooms.
We informed the mother that we called an ambulance for her unconscious, unresponsive daughter, who was throwing up on herself, and she started SCREAMING!
How DARE we call an ambulance? What are they going to think? Her husband is a first responder and will find out! She is going to sue us!
Now, the houseman arrives with the EMTs, who start making sure the young woman can breathe and load her onto a stretcher to take her to the hospital.
Here’s where they learn the shocking truth.
One of them does, in fact, know the mother, and that is when we find out the daughter is only 16!!!!
He looked at her and told her to call her husband. She went off with the ambulance crew, crying.
That is, by far, the weirdest / most stressful night of my several years working in a hotel.
Wow! This story is enough to leave most people speechless.
Let’s see what the folks over at Reddit had to say about the mother’s actions.
These are excellent questions.
As this person points out, she couldn’t have sued.
Yes, most parents would agree with this, but not her.
This person thinks the husband probably divorced her.
What an irresponsible mother! To allow your 16-year-old to get that intoxicated is bad enough, but then to not want to get her help – this lady is out of her mind!
If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.
