Code 12!

In this gripping episode of Tales from the Service Industry, we delve into the world of pests with Linda, exploring bed bugs, roaches, and other creepy crawlies. Liz reconsiders her choice of a laundry chair, while Ms. B navigates a Christmas ruined by an electric scooter mishap. Bill shares a nerve-wracking encounter with a Walmart troublemaker, unveiling a plethora of intriguing service industry anecdotes. Join us for an insightful discussion on how hotels handle and eradicate pest problems, delving into the intricate details of bed bugs that may leave you squirming. Discover the secrets behind pest inspections and treatments as we unravel the complexities of maintaining a pest-free environment. Tune in to explore the highs and lows of service industry encounters and gain a newfound appreciation for the meticulous work done behind the scenes. #TFTSI #TalesFromServiceIndustry #PestsAndProblems #InsiderInsights #HotelHorrorStories #Bedbugs #Hotel #HotelStories #Travel #PestControl #RetailStories #RetailNightmares #Podcast #PeopleOfWalmart #MsB #Liz #FYP #Subscribe

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I don't know our intro song.

(00:12):
All right, welcome back to another episode of Tales from the Service Industry.
I'm your host, I'm Bill.
Tonight with us on the mics, we've got Liz.
Hi team.
Ms. B. Hey guys.
And Linda is joining us.
Linda is not in our normal industry as far as hotels and things of that nature, but definitively
in the service industry aspect by providing service to hotels in the form of death.

(00:40):
I love that.
But not to the two legged guests.
Only the six, eight.
Four.
Yeah, four legs.
Oh yeah.
Yeah, actually.
Yeah.
So if you don't know what I'm referring to at this point, this is pest control.
That's so awesome.
Do you love it?
I love it.
I am legally allowed to kill things under two pounds.
Wait, under two pounds.

(01:01):
What's been two pounds?
Can a bug be like rodents?
Oh, they give me two pounds?
Yes.
Whoa.
So I totally forgot about that entire realm of pest control.
I was just singing like spiders, creepy crawly things in our favorite cookies, favorite BBs.
Yup.
Do you love a good BB?
Totally forgot about rodent.

(01:21):
You do?
Do you treat the rodents?
I do all of that.
Yeah.
That's actually how I got into this industry was when the BBs started to spike.
The company that I used to work for, they were looking for someone to treat for that.
My boyfriend at the time was like, let's do this.
Hey, you want a job that you're not working from 530 in the morning to 730 at night?

(01:42):
And I said, sure.
Wow.
Sign me up.
Yeah.
Can we jump on a ground rule here since none of us are at work and not refer to them as
cookies or BBs and just be honest and call them bed bugs?
Okay.
It's just such a hard habit to break.
You don't use the dirty word.
I know.
I know, but we're amongst friends.
Yes.
Yes.

(02:03):
Yes.
We can use the word.
All of our friends here and all of our friends around the world.
Very true.
But if anyone has listened to previous episodes, they have heard us refer to bed bugs as BBs.
Anything but that word.
I know.
I feel like gross saying it.
I know it gives me chills.
We used to have a hotel that we serviced that called it code 12.

(02:26):
Code 12.
Oh.
And we were aware of what that meant.
So when they called us and said, Hey, we have a code 12, we knew what it was.
We could go into the hotel if we couldn't find anyone and we were in the front desk.
I'm here on the code 12.
And everybody knew what it was.
My God.
It's like secret service.
And they're like, yeah, it's this room.
See you later.
Oh, those things are the worst, man.
I don't want me to go in your lobby, the front desk and go, I'm here for a while.

(02:50):
I'm in room 500 because I have bed bugs.
I would immediately leave the hotel.
Usually frowned upon.
Yeah.
Regardless if I was near room 500, I would leave.
Yeah.
Luckily we haven't had that happen.
Most of the pest control technicians just come and be like, where's your engineer?
Exactly.
They don't want to talk to me.
Like that's fine.

(03:10):
For me, it's usually like I get a phone call that they're there.
So it's like, okay, I'll be right down.
Don't say a word.
I'll be right down.
Yeah.
I'm gonna stop everything I am doing.
I will be right down.
Yeah.
We're not going to scream it out.
At least I won't.
I do know people who have.
Really?
Yeah.
Because I've gotten the phone call from the engineer.
I'm like, hey, the person that was here.

(03:30):
Like from your company?
Well, from a company we used to work for.
They would call us because we were like their normal technician.
And so they'd call us and be like, hey, the person you sent literally just screamed it
out in front of my lobby.
We're like, okay, we're really sorry.
He won't be back on property.
Yeah.
And okay, this is a good point.
Do you compensate or do they ask for compensation?
Like I had 10 rooms just leave early because your employee said the word bed bugs in the

(03:56):
lobby.
I've never had that.
So no.
That was me knocking on wood for you.
The company that I work for, there's only three people and I would fire whoever.
Yeah.
Right.
Yes.
Whoever did that.
So what's the weirdest kind of pest call you've been on?
Um, do you exclusively service hotels?
99% of our business is hotels.

(04:18):
The weirdest one I've had was probably when they told me that there was a lizard in a
room.
Okay.
Now that is not a pest.
It's a pest to me.
And I do not have anything on my vehicle that I can do for that.
That is animal control.
That is get someone with a broom and brush it out.

(04:40):
I've also had a phone call at a beachfront property where they called me and I'm not
sure what they wanted me to do because a Falcon had picked up a dog.
Oh my God.
I'm not lying.
And I'm like, I don't know what you want me to do about this.
I can't do anything about that.
It's not a creepy crawly, but that's really sad.

(05:01):
I'm like, I'm really sorry, but I can't do anything about it.
Did the Falcon drop the dog?
As far as I know, yes.
And the dog was fine, but I-
So they wanted you to handle the Falcon?
Well, and that's the thing.
It was an outside vendor because it's in the beachfront area, so they were circling to
keep the seagulls and stuff away from their guests.
So I don't know why you called me.
Yeah.
I mean, was the Falcon more than two pounds?

(05:23):
Probably.
It was a pretty big bird.
That's crazy.
I've had some of those like weird, that's not me.
Like they just have no idea who to call.
Do you handle squirrels?
Not anymore because the state of California has banned a lot of what we can do.
So what are you allowed to service?
We can service squirrels, but we don't have any products that will kill squirrels.

(05:44):
So we just do deterrents now at this point.
But no poison for squirrels?
Not that I am legally allowed to handle.
Oh, what about gophers?
I do not do gophers, but I have a company that does.
Ha, you got a guy for that.
See, now you're speaking Liz's language because she's got a guy for everything.

(06:05):
Need a balloon bender?
I got a guy for that.
Bouncy house?
Oh, bouncy house?
She's got a guy.
Reptiles were on us.
That's a sensitive subject.
Reptiles were looking for a new one.
Recently got a quote.
It was $450 more than my normal reptile guy.
I'm like, I don't think I like the kids that much.

(06:26):
I think you should give the current reptile guy another chance.
Not that guy.
The company.
The company.
Yes.
I think maybe not that guy.
You might know a reptile guy.
Wait, do they use reptiles that are confiscated from places?
No.
Get it?
Confiscated from hotels?
Yes.
It's from that one room.
Yeah.
Yeah, this lizard was found in a random hotel room and now it's-

(06:50):
What about snakes?
I have a guy.
They have no legs.
You got a guy for that.
You got a guy.
I do have a guy.
Under two pounds with legs.
With legs because I don't do snakes.
Okay.
Fair enough.
Is that by choice or is that just the trade?
No, that is by choice.
Oh.
Are there other risk control companies that handle snakes?
Yeah, my husband will do it, but I don't know.
Oh, I usually see snakes in our beachfront properties and stuff.

(07:14):
I see them a lot and I literally will just pass them by and just call it biological control
for rodents and stuff and just keep on going.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Love that.
I'm a little alone.
You got to draw the line somewhere.
Squirrels and snakes, apparently is a line.
Mine would be better bugs, but power to you.
I had a complaint about one in a room and this was when I was a housekeeping manager.

(07:37):
We are supposed to peek night to day always with gloves and going in and go like that
and be like, yep.
What, to see if a room was positive?
I would have a housekeeper be like, oh, hey, can you come look at this?
I think this is blood.
I think I see something and I would be like, oh, that's blood.
Blood's like blood.
Call the engineer.
Gotcha.
Yeah.

(07:58):
Then is it the engineer's problem?
You put the room out of order?
The chief or the supervisor will normally go get their eyes on it and then if they think
it's legit or even if they don't, they usually still call the pest control company.
Yeah.
My favorite SOP is to lock the room out.
Yeah.
Don't let anybody in.
If you get the complaint, don't even go in and check.

(08:18):
Just call me.
I'll come lock the room because then if you have a guest who wants to take it into litigation,
if you've entered the room prior to me and I'm checked it out and said, there's no linens
in the room, you're opening yourself up.
That's crazy, but who would take the linens?
Crazy people.
I've seen some crazy stuff.
What have you seen?

(08:39):
Well, I have seen a video of a gentleman who was staying at a hotel and the room had the
problem, had some bed bugs in it and he was combing them out of his hair.
Oh my God.
Forking gross.
Yeah.
How did it get that bad?
How long was the guest stay?
Do we know?
Yes.
He was only there overnight.
How is it that bad?

(09:00):
Really bad infestation.
Disgruntled employees.
Wow.
Again, so hotel?
Yes.
What happened was this is a hotel that we were at a lot.
The housekeeping staff, if they were to go to their supervisor and tell them, hey, we
see this problem, we're seeing bed bugs in this room, they got in trouble.
They were yelled at.
What?
I don't know why.

(09:20):
They were just so unhappy that they would see the problem and just ignore it.
Wow.
By the time it was caught, it was always bad.
Doesn't that bring more danger to the employees constantly going in and cleaning those rooms
and bringing that up to their homes?
Absolutely.
There's a possibility.
There's a possibility.
Well, I've been doing this for 10 years and I have never brought one home.

(09:42):
I've had one crawl out of my pocket, but I've never brought one home.
Oh God.
Hell no.
I guess you assume the risk.
You're in the business and you do take protective stuff.
Okay.
You aren't?
You just go in there with your jeans and your sneakers and you're like, let's go boys.
Yes.
Oh my Lord.
I guess you assume the risk and when you come home, say you treated bed bugs that day, you

(10:05):
might take extra precautions when you get to your home.
I do if I know the room was-
Positive.
Positive and bad.
If it wasn't-
Like barely, it's a start of infestation.
We still need to treat it.
Yeah.
Because if there's one, there's probably more.
And most main brand hotels, their SOP is one you have to treat.
Oh yes.

(10:26):
No, we're just going to kill the one.
Sell the room.
I've seen that happen before.
Ew.
That's why I fired my old pest control company.
They left it?
No, just half assed procedures for clearing the room.
Looping back to the whole thing about being in the lobby and being like, hey, I'm here
for the bed bugs.
My pest control guy did that.
We were standing outside the lobby in the courtyard area and he was like, all right,

(10:47):
so which room was it that had the bed bugs and you can hear his voice echo off the building.
Smack that SOP right there.
Yeah.
And then when they did treat the room, they did a literally half assed job of moving things
around.
They sprayed a little bit of poison and they put down some powder as a repellent.
And that was the extent of their treatment of the rooms.

(11:09):
Now what is standard?
So every company will have its own protocols.
For the one that we work for, the protocol is you quarantine the room and then when you
do treat the rooms, you treat it in a diamond pattern.
So it's the affected room in the middle, one up, one down, and then room side to side.
Now I have had one experience where we had a pretty bad room and we did the pattern,

(11:35):
but it was-
Twice?
Well, no, it was kind of an abbreviated diamond because it was on the end of the hallway.
So there was no room to one side.
But then we ended up doing the rooms diagonally and they were actually positive.
And it was kind of a fluke.
It was just one of those gut feelings where it's like-
Let's just check.
Yeah.
And if we hadn't checked, we would have had an even bigger problem because the number of

(11:56):
pests that they found in that diagonal room was substantial.
We were on our way to infestation.
Like a huge infestation.
Yeah.
What's the most amount of rooms you've seen in a hotel infested?
I did one hotel where I had six rooms going at one time.
Eek.
Yeah.
That sucked.
And that's just the ones you checked and were positive?

(12:16):
Yes.
Like unrelated.
It wasn't the diamond.
It was like one here, one there, one there.
One here, one there.
Yikes.
Yeah.
Not a diamond pattern.
Normally what we say is when we check the surrounding rooms, nine out of 10 times, we're
not going to find anything actually higher than that, but can happen.
I have a question for you.
When it comes to bed bugs, I've seen bed bug dogs, like where they'll bring dogs in to

(12:40):
check rooms.
I've heard of that.
Is this science?
Is this witchcraft?
Is this somewhere in between?
Somewhere in between.
Okay.
So if a reputable company, which I do know of one, they train on live bugs, not dead
bugs.
Okay.
And the problem with doing the dog is you can go and do the dog.
It's great.

(13:00):
I don't have to tear your room up.
They might find something.
It's cool.
I get it as a change in behavior, which means I'm going to have to charge you to check that
room anyways.
And the moment you rent that room, that certificate that you got is now void.
And most companies for the dog, they start at like $300 a room and then go from there.
What's standard pricing?

(13:21):
Good question.
I don't know what the dog standard pricing is.
What's the normal pricing just to check a room?
It all depends on the company.
Yeah.
It just depends on the company.
It can be anywhere from $70 to 150.
The reason I ask is that I've seen shows that they've brought in dogs as part of the shtick
and how they can go through and they can check an entire hotel in a matter of hours by having

(13:43):
these dogs run through the rooms.
But if you're charging per room, holy moly.
Well, yeah, that becomes a little expensive too.
But I guess I just look at it as there's that speed and accuracy thing and the dog's not
able to talk to you.
It's just, to your point, it's a behavioral thing from the dog versus that logical standpoint
of we know where they hide and we know what to look for sort of thing.

(14:04):
Yeah.
And the thing is, is like I said, like $300 for the one room and then it substantially
goes down as you add rooms.
But for them to come out, it's going to be a trip charge.
And you have to be very diligent on what companies you use because there are people out there
that are going to just get a dog from the pound and be like, this dog's trained.
Yeah.
Well, it's a beagle.

(14:25):
So it's changed.
But yeah, so you just got to be careful.
You got to know what you're looking for and I know of one company I would use.
Okay.
But how cool would that be if a hotel had a bedbug dog on staff with the housekeeping
team and like went down each floor, they should have that in Vegas where they had the problem.
And go down each floor smelling them and then housekeeping goes in after the dog.

(14:45):
Honestly, in Vegas, you've got hotels that have big enough room counts that that would
probably be warranted.
That'd be cool.
Just a dog on payroll.
Yeah.
I could see that.
That'd be so cool.
Would it live in the hotel?
No, my guess is it would be with the housekeeping manager and their dog.
So that's my career path.
I'm going to get a bedbug dog, go to work with my dog.

(15:06):
In Vegas?
Start training your dogs.
Yeah.
All right.
I don't want to go to Vegas.
It's about $10,000 to train a dog.
Or you can just pick one up from the pound and be like, this one's trained.
So I'll have a salary and they'll pay the dog a salary.
My rate is only 200.
The last time I looked to get it to train a dog correctly was around $10,000.
Who trains dogs to sniff for bedbugs?

(15:28):
Who are these people?
The same people that train dogs to sniff for cocaine and seizures.
I guess it's all, it is all training.
It's all training.
Yeah.
But it's very expensive.
Have you dealt with many licoraccia situations?
Yes.
I like to say pest names.
Okay.
What is that?
I don't even know.
Cockroach.
Cockroaches.
They're everywhere.
They're everywhere.

(15:49):
My hotel needs a new pest control company because I'm finding those all the damn time.
Still?
Yeah.
Which kind?
I don't know.
I don't get close enough.
Are they little or big?
It matters.
Little or big?
They're little.
So those are the worst ones.
Those are the worst ones.
Yes.
The big ones are the ones that just come in from outside, right?
They come in from outside.
They come in from busted piping, cracked lines.
Little ones live there and they have their colony.

(16:10):
Yes.
That was right.
If you see the big ones, they're going to be dead in like 12 hours.
Don't you know?
You don't need to panic.
They come out of wherever they live and once they dry out, they die.
Yeah.
You're good.
I've been watching Hebe Jeebies throughout this conversation.
Sweet.
Let's keep it going.
So when it comes to hotels and pests and infestations and whatnot, what is the hardest thing to

(16:33):
get rid of?
Like roaches, bed bugs, ants?
What would be-
The hardest thing to treat.
Yeah.
What would be like your Achilles heel for a pest problem?
Honestly for us, my Achilles heel is the large American cockroaches, the water bugs, because
they live in our sewer systems.
I can't do anything about that and especially in like resort areas, I can't treat the city

(16:58):
sewer lines, the county sewer lines.
So for me, that's the nightmare because you want me to come out and fix it and I say,
I can't.
Right.
I just dealt with that actually at a hotel where they had a coffee shop that had a busted
sewer line and this was rented from the hotel.

(17:19):
So they had a busted sewer line, their company came in and fixed it, only it created more
cracks.
So in the hotel that I service, their dining room was being overrun by big water bugs.
That was a nightmare.
It took me months.
Months?
Because we had to figure out where they were coming from.

(17:39):
And I finally narrowed it down and I said, somewhere here.
And I just pointed to like the middle of the wall and I'm like, here's your problem.
It's over here.
I don't know how you're going to fix it.
And they actually did have to have a plumber come up and they found a 20 foot crack pipe.
Wow.
But I'm on the phone.
I'm getting blown up by the food and beverage guy.
Yeah.

(18:00):
The food and beverage guy is calling me.
General manager's calling me.
Property ops guy is calling me.
You're like, I have treated.
I am doing the best I can.
We have to find the source.
All right.
So this is a good lead in question to one of my questions then.
And that is that from a hotel operator standpoint, if my pest control company is not able to
quote unquote, fix it, what should I be looking for?
A lot of it comes down to communication.

(18:22):
So if your pest control technician cannot tell you why he can't fix the problem, then
you kind of have to go like, well, what's going on?
If it's anything related and they're not solving the problem and it's getting worse, then you
know that they're just pouring water.
So I have a specific example for that question.
I worked at this property for over a year and they had a La Cucaracha problem, but it

(18:46):
was only in a very specific wing of a specific floor.
It was ground level and it was about four rooms, but there's two rooms that were the
worst and they could not ever figure out what was wrong.
They brought in all kinds of pest companies.
They even at one point like put like a camera or something inside the walls and they could
just tell it was infested, but they could never figure out where it was coming from.
And the problem was never solved.

(19:07):
So we just wouldn't sell those rooms.
So is it just the companies that we had hired stunk or?
Well, something like that.
That's when you have to work as a team.
Our approach is word extension of you guys or word extension of maintenance, engineering,
whatever, whoever's in charge, we're an extension of that.
So we're going to go in and we're going to try to figure out what's going on.

(19:31):
I've had that happen at a hotel where again, it was the large ones, but they were in a
meeting room.
Why were they in a meeting room?
We actually were able to determine that there was a pipe that had been not capped off when
it was abandoned.
We actually got dried piping, so it's just things like.
Sounds like a perfect room for a cockroach.
It is.
So you just have to kind of work with the pest control.

(19:52):
If they're not willing to work with you, then that's a red flag.
I told them just to blow up those rooms and they'd eventually figure it out.
Well I find myself with like various different vendors.
Like we all know I've got some boat problems.
And you cannot lie.
I cannot.
Well, I seriously cannot lie about the boat problems, but I find myself down on the top

(20:13):
of the dock with these boat technicians being like, okay, what are you looking for?
What are you testing?
What's good?
What's bad?
So like I am in turn learning some of their expertise.
So next time I call them, be like, okay, I looked at this.
I know what this is, but I think you need to come out or we can troubleshoot like on
the obviously we can't troubleshoot with pest control company.

(20:36):
But looking at a boat's electricity, I can sometimes figure out the problem before they're
even on site and charging me for a service call.
So I think all of us managers wear jack of all trades in our jobs, but we also need to
take the time and the effort.
If you have vendors coming to your property doing work for you, you got to understand

(20:57):
your problem.
Listen to them.
To communicate with your questions.
Yeah.
And if you're like, I am not afraid to drag you by the ear and be like, this is your problem
here.
I'll drag you down there.
I'll show you.
I'll tell you what I'm going to do.
But if you've got someone who doesn't want to do that, I just go back to the red flag.
Yeah.
Okay.

(21:18):
Like for me, I think this is one of those hotel, your pieces of insight, if you will,
for me early in my career, I made it a point to learn how to speak my vendors language
because if I've got a problem, whether it's pests or electricity or plumbing or what have
you, if I can clearly explain it to you in the language that you normally deal with,
you're more likely to fix my problem than if I'm trying to explain it in hotel, your

(21:42):
speak.
So if I say, Oh my God, there's creepy crawlies.
Get them.
I'm going to ask you what kind.
How many legs?
Like the worst thing you can tell your pest company is I've got bugs.
Okay, great.
You're calling me.
I'm hoping you have bugs.
Awesome.
What type of bug?
Because I'm going to treat ants differently than I'm going to treat cockroaches.
And I'm going to treat bed bugs.

(22:02):
Just be honest with your pest control company.
Yeah.
Just when you call them, tell them why you're calling.
Don't use code 12 unless they know what a code 12 is.
You have a previous relationship.
You've got a previous relationship, but don't tell them, call me and tell me you have lady
bugs in a room.
I don't care that you have lady bugs in a room.
That means someone left a door open and a lady bug flew in.
Right?

(22:23):
That's hilarious.
You've never seen a lady bug infestation.
I have, but outside, not inside.
Or I've had hotels call me and say we have blueberries.
That's great if raspberries kill.
Those are our rewards levels.
Yes.
Level blueberry.
I'm like, great.
So IRD left food in there.

(22:44):
I don't know what to tell you.
Right.
Do photos help you?
Photos of insects help me.
Yes.
I am not a doctor, so do not send me pictures.
I mean, you can.
I'm sure they said you have blooms or bites.
Everybody sends me blooms, like bites and stuff like that.
No, no, no.
That's cool.
If I send you a picture of a bug, I can tell you what it is.
But if you send me pictures of bites, I'm going to look at it and I kind of know what

(23:05):
I'm looking at.
I'm not a doctor.
That sucks, but what did the bug look like?
Yeah.
No, I have photos of actual bugs.
Okay.
Have you seen, and I'm already having heme debes before I ask the question, have you
seen spider infestations?
Not in rooms.
Oh, thank God.
I can sleep at night now.
Not in rooms.
And honestly, what I will tell people when there's a spider in the room, if I get a phone

(23:29):
call for a spider, 99% of the time it is a guest set complaint and they complained not
because they saw a spider, but because they saw spider webbing.
And I'm going to say that's a housekeeping problem.
Tell your housekeepers to clean.
But also if they do clean well, tip your housekeepers.
Yes.
Absolutely.
Tip your housekeepers.
Oh yeah.
Spiders are like my biggest fears.

(23:49):
You've gotten photos of spider webs or people have said there's a spider web in this room.
We've got to have a spider somewhere.
Yeah.
I service anywhere from one to five star hotels, so yes.
Ah, yeah.
Yeah.
Makes sense.
Ding, ding, ding.
Those five star hotels are crazy.
I think we know that from experience a little bit.
We do.
A little bit.

(24:09):
Yep, yep, yep, yep.
All right.
So I have another question for you.
Okay.
And this one, I actually know the answer to this one, but I don't think Ms. B probably
know this one.
Ooh, I'm excited.
I definitely don't.
Yeah.
Just presumption.
Okay.
So one of the hotels that I was at, it was highly family oriented, a lot of bunk beds,
lots of kids.
Bunk beds?

(24:29):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I remember that property.
More room for activities.
Yes, and injuries and all sorts of other problems.
But one of the things that we would see a lot because of the kids was head lice.
Oh.
That's disgusting.
It is gross.
But it's not a bug.
Oh, what?
And that's what I wanted to lead into is why it is that pest control will not treat head

(24:51):
lice.
It's a medical condition.
It's choking.
It's a medical condition.
Do they linger or are they just on the head?
No, it's a medical condition.
Like it's an infection?
Well, they don't live off of the body.
24 hours, they're dead.
They jump.
No, it's not that they jump.
They don't jump.
They need a host.
But they need a host body.
So once head lice is off of a body and it's just like on the sheets in the bed, whatever,

(25:13):
it'll die.
24 hours, it's dead.
You see, I didn't know that.
And there were times where room attendants would call in a panic, and it's all in Spanish.
So the word bioho is head lice.
And you can't do anything to it rather than just, I mean, effectively quarantine the room
for 24 hours.
Just go in and clean it with the dead bugs.
Oh, God.
Dead medical conditions.

(25:34):
Yeah, because they're parasites.
So it's not a bug.
It's actually a parasite.
Wow.
That is wild.
I had no idea.
See, that's why I wanted to share.
I'm so glad.
I feel so much smarter now.
There you go.
So you just have to quarantine the room or you have housekeeping go in gloves, bag everything

(25:55):
up, keep it in a bag for 24 hours.
Wow.
And then just clean it as normal.
Dang.
That's wild.
But would you get guest complaints?
Hey, we my kid has lice now.
What's in your hotel?
Actually, what we would get is the opposite.
We would get people checking out and being like, oh, yeah, just to let you know, our
daughter has lice and there's there's a problem in the room.

(26:18):
It reduces.
Really?
You're going to leave this on me.
For you.
After I've presented you the receipt for you to stay.
Yeah.
And clear that credit card authorization for incidentals and all that other good stuff.
Exactly.
That's so right.
Yeah, I'll tell you when you can't charge me anymore.
I went to a room once where there were safely to say dozens, not hundreds, but dozens of

(26:41):
lice running around the pillow and the sheet and all that.
And you can just see them?
Yeah.
Did you just run away?
No, I'm not touching them.
I'm just looking at them.
It's not like they're going to jump at me from five feet away.
We don't know that.
They're head lice.
It's a parasite.
It's not a bug.
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
You have to touch them to get them to come on to you.
Do you treat fleas?

(27:02):
Yes.
Oh, that's great.
Have you had a lot of bad flea problems?
I'm actually getting more and more flea problems ever since COVID and vaccinations.
So people are no longer vaccinating their dogs.
So you know how people used to treat their dogs for fleas?
There's people that are no longer treating for fleas.

(27:22):
Yeah, because people think their dog will get COVID.
So there's just-
Ms. B, you have not heard this?
Oh, let me just tell you.
Yeah.
Wait, so getting their flea shot or whatever will give them COVID?
Well, they think, because there are some people out there that are anti-vax.
And the COVID vaccine brought a lot to the media and people in turn stopped vaccinating

(27:46):
their pets.
That's insane.
They're people's children too.
Okay.
So yeah, so there's a lot of pet owners.
There are not a lot, but there's some that no longer treat their animals proactively
for fleas.
That's so sad.
Or anything.
I mean-
Yeah, for anything.
Especially with dogs, what about heartworm and stuff?
Yes.
Yeah.

(28:07):
So the
So the rationing behind some of it is that heart guard, for heartworm and fleas and stuff,
it is an insecticide that they are putting on the dock team.
Injecting.
Yeah, to get rid of those.
So people are freaking out.

(28:27):
So now they're not doing it.
Yeah, well, people were taking horse dewormer.
There's that.
And-
Tide pods.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, that's true too.
It's still locked up.
Just kidding.
Well, if we go to CVS or Walmart, yeah.
Everything's locked up.
That's true.
So a lot of fleas because people aren't treating their pets.
Yes.
That's sad.

(28:47):
So the dog owners who are getting charged a pet fee and maybe an extra cleaning fee are
bringing in fleas to hotels.
Yes.
So, and a lot of times that pet fee doesn't cover my treatment.
No, no, no, no.
It's not going to cover it.
You know-
It does not.
It does not, because at the same time the pet fee that's charged doesn't cover-
Anything.
Well, I mean, it covers something.

(29:09):
Same thing with your incidental.
What does it cover?
We've spoken about this.
Yeah.
What do you mean you need to put $50 on my credit card?
It's like, dude, 50 bucks will cover the coffee maker and a remote control in a room.
All I know is just make sure that they give the right key to the right room.
Because I just recently had that where I had a front desk person.
I give a key to a room and it was supposed to be 521.

(29:33):
They gave it to 512, but 512 was under treatment for bed bugs.
And these guests literally put the beds back down on the frames.
They took the infested items that were still in the bathroom, put them back on the bed
and slept in the room.
Okay.
Then they deserve the bites.
They didn't like all the front desk and ask why their room was in shambles?

(29:53):
No.
They might have a guest walk in and there's a rag on the ground, they call me.
No, they did not.
And the only thing I can think of is maybe there was a language barrier.
That's insane.
Can you tell us what level of property this was on the star rating?
It was in the resort area.
Okay.
So it's a nice hotel.
Nice hotel.
You're paying...
They were probably paying three, $400.

(30:16):
And you go into a room and you just put it back together.
I would never.
Yeah.
I had to get the general manager involved because I came the next day to finish the
treatment and I was like, um, we have a problem.
People stayed here.
That's crazy.
You need to tell the guests.
Not only do you have to tell the guests, you have to lock up that.
I had to restart treatment and then I had to treat their luggage because we don't know.

(30:41):
Well at least you did that.
I'm like, they're going to be here long enough that I can treat the luggage before they leave.
Sorry you're stuck with the clothes on your back.
No, I mean, luckily they had hung up everything.
So they can't get onto it.
Well, they can get onto the luggage.
No, but the clothes that it's hanging.
They were hanging.
So the chance of spread, I mean, you can see it as a visual inspection, but we're good

(31:03):
to go.
They can have their clothes back, but the luggage, just to be sure.
Oh, this is going to be itchies again.
Like empty luggage.
Yeah.
I hated their empty luggage just as a precaution.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So this is why I told you not to get couches from strangers or out by dumpsters.
You know what?
Okay.
This is a really funny story and I'm probably going to get shamed.

(31:24):
You better not still have it.
Let me tell a story.
Oh God.
And I'll get shamed if I need to get shamed.
Shame is coming.
Oh, you will be.
Okay.
So I'm leaving for work the other day and the dumpsters are like pretty close to my
parking spot.
So I just, on my way out, I dropped my trash and I have been wanting, I know, I know Linda

(31:45):
is-
I know.
I freaked out on her.
She's like, this girl has bed bugs under her right now.
I'm going to your place tomorrow.
Okay.
So I just moved and my bedroom is larger now.
So I was like, Oh my God, a little like chair in the corner for me to like throw my laundry
on because we're not going to sit in a chair.

(32:06):
It's decoration.
So I go to the dumpster.
It's your laundry chair.
Yeah.
Like put the shoes on chair.
Sure.
Or the laundry chair.
It's the laundry chair.
It's like the junk corner.
Yeah.
And I go and there is this like at the time, beautiful looking chair and it is like green
green, not velvet, not suede, like something in the middle.

(32:26):
It's still a fabric.
It like looks-
Like a velour.
Like in good shape and it's green with like wooden legs and it looks beautiful.
And I meet like call my mom.
So I send her a picture of it and I go, should I take this?
So then I call her and we have talked about my mother a lot.
She's a very smart woman.
I talked to her on the phone and she's like, well, yeah, you kind of need a chair.

(32:51):
Oh my God.
And then I also am leaving for work.
This chair is not light.
I then carry it to my apartment.
This is before you knew about it, but I left it outside.
Okay.
I left it on the back patio and it is still there five days later.
So pest control question.

(33:12):
How long can bed bugs live without a meal?
Up to 18 months.
Oh, that thing's going in the trash.
Whoa.
18 months.
Yes.
Up to 18 months.
Oh my God.
I'm 18 months.
I just started sweating.
So dude, I'm telling you not so fun fact guys.
I have had bed bugs.
So have I.

(33:32):
Yeah.
My whole entire house and college had them.
We got our apartment infested.
Yeah.
It's happened.
Yeah.
It was, we were young.
We didn't know better.
We bought furniture off someone online, but it looked in good condition.
Like they sold it.
They seemed really honest, nice people.
We got the furniture for a great deal because we needed a couch.

(33:53):
Did they know?
They might not have.
We don't know.
I didn't reach out.
Like it was one of those like internet things and we needed a couch.
We couldn't afford to go buy one.
So we bought it off someone online for a good price.
And I want to say maybe, I don't even remember if it was weeks, but not that long after I
started to get bites up my arm and I'm like, what the hell are these?
They never touched my husband and I was getting bites and I was like, what is this?

(34:15):
And then did they not bite him or was he just not allergic to him?
Not allergic.
They didn't bite the thing.
Yes.
So I am the one, because I have the sensitive skin that got bitten to hell.
And then we talked to a neighbor.
They had them.
So although I don't know for sure, I'm pretty sure we brought it.
It's highly probable.
Yeah.
But our other neighbors had it too.
Like everyone next to us.
It could have been that creep though.

(34:36):
Because if it was adjacent, like a shared wall.
Yeah, it could have been a creep.
It could not have been, you could have had it when you moved in.
It is possible.
But to this day, I'm like, do not buy couches from strangers off the internet or next to
a dumpster, Liz.
Okay.
I have a great question.
So they typically are in like fabric or wood, right?
Fabric.

(34:56):
Right.
What about a leather couch?
No, because what they do is they go into the-
The material underneath.
Yes.
They go into the cracks and crevices of any furniture.
So that's where they're going to hide.
And then they're going to come out when you're sleeping because they're drawn out by your
CO2 and they're going to feed on you.
All right.
So the chair is going back to the dumpster.
Dude, I had to throw out all my couches.

(35:17):
I had to get rid of so much stuff.
By the way, we had to trash our mattress because we had a pest control company come out and
they're like-
No, mattresses are the number one thing you need to get rid of.
These were our options.
He's like, you either trash the mattress or we can heat it, do all this and seal it.
Yes.
But you can never take the seal off.
And we're like, okay, it's going in the trash.

(35:40):
If they heat it, technically, so heats their weakness.
So once they heat them, they're dead.
It's okay if it comes off now.
We're not going to tell you that, especially if they're that bad in your apartment.
My poor daughter moved into a place in Colorado.
Luckily, they had moved two items in because they got there late at night.
And so all of their furniture-
And just immediately knocked out.
Well, they noticed that they had the problem.

(36:02):
And so 99% of all their furniture was still in their U-Haul.
Oh, thank God.
So it wasn't touched.
Which they left everything in the U-Haul and had to have the company come out and treat
it and then call mom and say, are they doing this right?
And I said, tell them this is what you want them to use because no.
Oh my goodness.
Oh.
They're not using a product that's effective anymore.

(36:24):
Can you tell them that you want to use this?
Oh my God.
That's so interesting.
Okay.
So I'm going to be texting you.
Just kidding.
Hey.
And I'm going to throw out the chair.
Okay.
So interesting point.
What makes a product not effective any longer on bed bugs?
They develop a-
A newer, better version.
Like a resistance.
Like clean.
They develop a resistance to it.
Oh.
So bed bugs have been around since the dinosaurs.

(36:47):
What?
Yeah.
They've literally have fossilized bed bugs.
So they are very apt at survival.
Them and cockroaches are going to survive the nuclear holocaust.
You know what's funny though?
I thought that, but then you told me if they got into the sun, they die in like a day.
Well, the big ones.
The small ones won't?
The small ones are going to live forever.
We're heebie jeebieing all episode long.
I mean, I know we're talking about bed bugs like quite a lot, but I personally have never

(37:11):
gone through the treatment process and I'm sure a lot of our listeners haven't either.
What is like a standard treatment process for bed bugs?
It varies from company to company and what type of treatment you want.
Are you doing chemical?
Are you doing heat?
Are you doing a hybrid of them?
What's the most effective?
Heat is our weakness.

(37:31):
100%.
So do you just like close the room, quarantine it and like stick heaters in?
Yeah, basically.
But it's all about airflow and heat.
So 122 will kill them.
What we advise is that if a room is positive at a hotel, please do not just go and turn
on the heater.
You're a not going to get it hot enough and B you're literally getting it hot enough that

(37:55):
they're going to want to go procreate.
Oh, so you're making the problem worse.
You're making the problem worse.
Yikes.
So just let your pest control company handle it.
And if you have the problem at home, I definitely say call someone.
Yeah.
Don't try to do it yourself.
Oh God.
I'm not doing it right now.
So you think the most effective is heat.
Does chemical really work or kind of like, it works, but it's much slower of a process

(38:19):
and it's just not as effective.
Okay.
It's just so how do they heat the whole room or do they just only do specific areas?
I have whole room heat.
I have heaters and fans that I can heat up a room.
It uses a lot of power.
So that could be an issue at some hotels.
And we also have what we refer to as like a heat chamber.
So physically we go in, set up a heat chamber, looks like an easy up with like a-

(38:43):
With really good walls.
Yeah.
With really like a bounce house type of situation.
I got a guy for that.
But you just put everything in it and you heat it up to 122 degrees.
Love that.
Now you got a gal for that.
Yeah.
Right?
That's a wild.
So if it's like an early on infestation and you're like, I've inspected everything, but
I only suspect it's say on the bed, you can put that easy up over-

(39:05):
Yeah.
Just the bed.
We build everything.
I just go around and bring everything in and we just heat it up.
And even in a bad infestation, if it's still just basically located on the bed, I can heat
it.
It's not a big deal.
That's wild.
I'm actually learning a lot.
This is crazy.
Well, you know, and like from a guest perspective, guests look at bed bugs as a dirty filthy

(39:28):
thing and they're gross.
They're disgusting.
There's no doubt about it.
But everything that I've learned, bed bugs are not related to cleanliness.
They are not related to cleanliness.
If you do not want bed bugs at your hotel, don't rent the rooms.
Don't rent the rooms.
Every hotel everywhere has had them.
Like if you are staying at a hotel, they have had bed bugs.
Yes.

(39:48):
Hotels cater to people from around the world.
That's the key right there.
It's where they're coming from.
So bed bugs in destination areas like, well, we were talking about Vegas earlier.
They had a really bad infestation.
Yeah.
That was all up in the news.
Yeah.
So they're coming from people from all around the world and a lot of developing nations.
My experience when we've had bed bugs, oftentimes, you know, working with pest control, they

(40:12):
can see the number of, I'm sorry, I don't know the right term, when they molt.
Yeah.
The stages.
Their stages of life.
You know, like they can look back and go, okay, well, this occurs at this point, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah.
And you can kind of roughly trace back to where that potentially started.
Like how long you have had them.
Interesting.
And more often than not, it's been from countries that are developing nations.

(40:33):
A lot of Latin America, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Middle East.
I thought it was really bad in Europe though, too.
Right now it is.
Yeah.
That's what I've heard.
There's a big brouhaha about France and the upcoming Olympics and the infestations that
they're seeing in Paris.
Yikes.
New York had it with movie theaters.
People were going to theaters and then taking bed bugs home with them.

(40:54):
Oh, movie theaters.
Yeah.
The Nike store had them in New York.
Wow.
Yeah.
Okay.
This brings up a question from me.
I know Ms. B, you are very particular when you check into a hotel room and what you look
for and your to-do list.
Yes.
Can you share that with us?
Okay.
I'm particular, but not as if you guys remember our guest chef.

(41:16):
She's more so than me.
Oh yeah.
Like I've got my things, but she goes into the room and before she even like puts her
suitcase down, she puts it in the bathtub.
Yes.
I do check the mattress.
I look for blood spots, but she like takes off the covers and looks and like.
Yeah.
I go to hotels often, but when I stay at one, I do the same thing.
Our luggage goes directly into the shower or bathtub and I am looking up above by the

(41:39):
headboards, but I'm looking at the box springs because that's where they're going to hide.
I'm pulling the mattress six inches and I'm looking at the box spring.
If I remotely think that there's a problem, I'm going to tear the room apart.
I'll put it back together.
Especially if there's not a problem, I'll put it back together.
If you don't find anything, yeah, of course.
I'm going to look.
I'm going to do my due diligence.
When you're looking at the box spring, are you looking for blood spats or are you looking

(42:01):
for the bugs?
I'm looking for the bugs and I'm looking for poop.
Which is the blood?
Which is no, they're fecal matter.
Bed bugs are the hippie bugs.
They literally, they eat, they poop and they procreate.
That's it.
If you see what looks like a Sharpie marks.
Like really tiny, like fine point Sharpie marks.

(42:21):
Sharpie marks, like on a bed skirt, you could have the problem or that bed skirt was in
a room that could have had the problem and they're just reusing the bed skirt.
Which happens.
I've got photos that I can post on social when this airs to tie into what she's describing.
Okay.
But yeah, that's just the best practice.
Now I've stayed at a hotel where they had the problem and I walked in and said, I just

(42:44):
want another room, please.
Right.
That's all I want.
Yeah.
And they gave me another room.
Did you tell them like, Hey, I think you have an issue?
I did.
And then I was called a liar, but that's okay.
You're lying.
No, they told me that they had the best company and they'd never have the problem.
Oh my God.
Then they must've been green.
Green or liar.
No, that's an hourly associate doing what they were told to do.

(43:08):
I was like, okay, but do you see that truck out there?
That's mine.
Oh, you had the company truck?
And then what did they say?
And they had the audacity, like you're lying.
We've never had that problem.
I didn't actually point out my truck, but I was just like, Oh, okay.
But I mean, they still gave me a new room that didn't have the problem.
And I was happy.
Now I got more if they rented the room or not.
Yeah, and another floor, another wing of the hotel, please.

(43:29):
Not the one right above it.
Another hotel?
Nope.
Nothing above, below or beside.
Oh no, I was on the opposite side.
That's cool.
Okay.
And I checked that room.
I'm like, you guys got free room inspections.
I don't know what you're complaining about.
Yeah, you're welcome.
I told you about an issue.
And here's my business card.
So let's see.
The rate is $189.
I've done two inspections for you at 150 each.

(43:52):
So you owe me.
Yup.
No, I wasn't that mean.
I should have been after the whole thing, but I wasn't.
Oh, you sound sweet.
I would have gotten sniffy.
Be like, well, here's my business card.
And if you want to tell me I'm wrong, why don't you get a second opinion and then we'll wager
my room on that.
Right.
And considering this was in a downtown area, I guarantee you they knew they had a problem.

(44:17):
I can guarantee you they knew they had a problem when the front desk has been coached to say
exactly what they said.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
That's a good thing.
If a front desk agent just flatly denies like, no, it's not possible.
Never.
Yeah, it's possible.
And it's what's going on.
And they're not shocked.
I mean like, oh, uh.
Well, let's do a no.
Thank you for letting us know.
That kind of response is genuine because we're like, uh-oh, thank you for letting us know.

(44:38):
We'll go check that out.
Never.
Never.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Do you know where you're staying?
I do.
And I expected it.
Bill, do you have any more questions for Linda?
No, you know, actually I don't have any more bug questions.
Okay.
I was going to actually say I wanted to move along to something else.

(44:58):
Okay.
But for that, Ms. B, do you have any questions?
Not off the top of my head.
Okay.
I have been just rapid firing.
Now you have, you're always good at that.
I just say whatever comes in my head.
I can't hold on to questions.
Okay, Bill, do you have a topic for us or a story?
I have a little topic.
Okay.
And it is actually a listener submission.

(45:21):
Oh, no way.
But it's not a story.
It was a gift.
What?
Okay.
I don't follow.
I'm going to walk you down the path.
Wait, okay.
An email gift?
No, a physical gift.
From a listener.
That is here in my hand right now.
Okay.
And this is going to be a throwback to a conversation in one of the episodes.
And I'm sorry, I don't recall which episode it was.

(45:42):
How dare you.
You only edit every episode.
I know.
I know.
There's only 41 of them.
Well, 40 some of them.
So are those stamps?
They are stickers.
Okay.
And I'm going to ask Ms. B to unroll this just a little bit and tell me what that sticker
is.
I'm scared of bed bugs now.

(46:02):
It's not a bed bug.
Okay.
I take this off.
What is that?
Handcuffs?
Little handcuffs stickers.
Remember when we were talking about the number of people that we've had arrested out of hotels?
Oh my God.
And joking about how we need to be like, you know, World War II fighter pilots where they
would put the little symbol for everybody that, you know, they shot down.

(46:23):
So one of our longtime listeners sent me these.
I love that.
We need to save these forever or give them out like crazy.
We need to use them.
I know.
Well, I'm going to send some home with you.
Yes.
But in talking to said user, these were actually their handcuffs.
It was a retired police officer.

(46:44):
Oh, I was thinking spicy.
I read too much.
Me too.
And apparently these handcuffs were applied to thousands of people that had been arrested
by this officer.
And these were the retired handcuffs.
Yeah.
Of this officer.
That he still has them to this day.
I mean, yeah, that's something you save forever, right?

(47:05):
There's a lot of mojo in those cuffs, but.
That's hilarious.
Ms. B, I'm going to send some of these stickers home with you.
I'm so excited.
And you can start your own little sticker wall of people arrested.
I love this.
I think the only thing that would make this better is if I got some real handcuffs, but
this is great too.
Ms. B just puts on her hat of the day.
I'm the police officer.

(47:26):
You guys have my handcuffs stickers ready.
So OK, first I want to finish on that, but I literally start my own wall at work.
That's the idea.
I'm going to put a little board and everyone's going to be like, what are these?
I'm like, don't worry about it.
But I think it needs to go with like a blurb of like who was arrested and like a brief
two, three sentence about who was arrested at the hotel.

(47:47):
I think it's funnier just to do these little stickers and then it grows and people are
like, why is this growing?
No, it's not the idea of just number of people arrested.
I feel like it should be like the OSHA signs that this property has had how many days with
no reportable incident.
Just something like that.
Yeah, exactly.
Three days.
This property has gone zero days without somebody being arrested.

(48:07):
Oh my God, that's horrible.
So you're going to come back to me on something?
Oh, thank you for reminding me.
Okay, what was I saying?
You pointed a bell and then he pointed at me.
I'll get back to you and I'll get back to you.
What was it?
Oh, I think I'm caught.
So I love these kinds of situations and I will go and be like, let's go, let's get them

(48:28):
out and all that.
And my boss makes fun of me.
She's like, why aren't you a cop?
I was like, I actually was going to be one.
She's like, you're lying.
I'm not lying.
No, I wanted to be a detective.
A detective.
And so you know, you have to go like through the hole and you got to do the beats and you
got to do, that's why I was going to be a cop to become a detective.
I had to picked out my college and everything.
I was going to go to John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and I had the sweatpants

(48:51):
and everything from the time I was 13.
I was like, I'm going to John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Police officer.
I was obsessed with crime shows, you know, lawn or special victims unit, criminal minds,
lies, all lies.
You name it.
And then I was like, wait, I don't want to be a beat cop and get like, you know, it was
like, I'm going to be a criminologist.
And now I work in hotels and I just try to arrest people there.

(49:14):
You watch people get arrested.
They call them and be like, you need backup.
And they're like, go away little girl.
So funny enough, in a previous life before I relocated here, I did have a really close
friend I went to college with and I lived with her afterwards.
She didn't really know what she wanted to do for a living.
So she got sent to the police academy.

(49:36):
Like they head hunted her.
What?
And she was like, hey, you went to this college, got this degree, like da da da.
We'll send you to the academy and we'll do all the things.
And with that, she would practice on me when she was in the academy.
She would be like, okay, no, but she would come from the academy and we, I would quiz

(49:57):
her on things and like coats and laws and all this jazz.
And then she would be like, all right, this pocket knife, hide it somewhere.
And she would think you're with a minute.
No, she literally would practice like searches on me and she would.
Exactly.
Okay.
Haven't found it yet.
I got to keep looking.
Shut the fork up.

(50:19):
And okay.
I am very tall.
Our listeners don't know, but like I'm five, 10, five 11.
This girl is six, three.
Oh, damn.
Yeah.
She is very, very tall and she would literally be like, okay.
And she would literally beat me up like in our living room, trying to find like a pocket
knife that I like hid in my shoe or something.
And then she went on patrol.

(50:39):
She had a beat.
She had a partner and all this stuff like FTO.
And then she had like a circle of friends.
So at a certain point in my life, I had a social circle of like 10 cops.
So the stories they would tell.
And I am not from a great area.
It's the murder capital of California, right?
At one year.

(51:00):
Yes.
It had the highest.
One time.
Like probably 10, 15 years ago in the United States, actually.
Oh, it had the highest murder rate per capita in the U S are we reaching out to the research
department to figure out where I'm from?
No, no.
I was going to have the research department see if they could pull the current stats.

(51:23):
So funny thing.
And I'm sorry.
I'm not being interrupted, but on tick tock, something came up about the most dangerous
cities in the United States.
So I recently had one like the worst cities to live in the U S.
I send it to her because her city was number one.
It was like dying.
Like what?
I thought it was supposed to be like peaceful.
What is this?
The city that you currently work in, Miss B, my hometown is smaller, but the kind of

(51:50):
walking traffic you get is probably pretty similar to my hometown.
And I just think we've got, I've got to get one of those people on this pod, man.
You should get one of these people.
They would be great guests.
So near group of cops.
Yeah.
I did date one of them as well.
Oh my God.
I dated a cop too.
Yeah.
Good times.
I don't know where that story came from, but we need there.

(52:11):
This is, we go down a lot of rabbit holes, man.
That's all right.
Chillin my previous life.
I was a front desk manager, so it's all good.
Oh my God.
You understand my life.
I do.
So I give a lot of grace to hotel staff.
Okay.
Do you have any stories about that?
No.
Um, literally the biggest part of my job was to make sure that the general manager's wife

(52:31):
did not find out that he was having an affair with the assistant general manager.
That was like the biggest part of my life.
That sucks.
That was fun.
Could you imagine that nowadays?
But I do sympathize with you with the night auditor thing.
Oh, that is a worse shift.
It is.
I feel for all those people, especially when a night audit calls out and the front desk

(52:52):
manager has to cover.
And it's almost always on a weekend night.
So I've almost always had like a glass of wine or two.
And then I get that text or call and I'm like, Oh God.
Yeah.
My favorite was when I worked like a seven to three shift.
Yes.
And then I'd get home and then they'd say they called out and we can't find someone.
All right, I'm on my way.
And then I'd work 11 to seven, but then I still had to work my seven to three shift.

(53:15):
No, no, no, I don't do that.
I come back, do my overnight.
And then I say, good luck with the day shift, all.
Yeah.
You make sure you have covers for the day and peace.
No, my agents are there without an M.O.D.
I'm like, go bother the GM if you got anything else.
I'm out.
I would do a whole shift, but then I'd sleep in one of the hotel rooms.
I'm like, I'm not driving home.
So sleep in here overnight.
Okay, wait, Bill, this tangent started with you telling a story, but that turned into

(53:41):
a listener submission.
I had a story that I was going to share and I don't feel sensitive.
I have a feeling it's a sensitive thing to me, but and I'm just going to, I'll just share
the story.
So this is one of those things where I was not at work.
I was out in the wild and something happened that really confused me, followed by really

(54:03):
pissed me off all in about an eight second window.
Love that.
So and I'm going to start off by saying that I was going to Walmart and that is not the
story.
There we go.
It's all the lead in you need, but it is a good part of the leading.
Okay.
So I'm walking into Walmart and you know how they have that big kind of that air gap where
you come through the first set of doors and like there's the carts and everything and

(54:24):
then you've got the next set of doors, right?
And the greeter.
So I'm in that no man's land, not outside, not inside the store yet, where they might
have like a key making machine.
Exactly.
You're in like the foyer.
That's a fancy word for Walmart.
It's okay.
We all go to Walmart.
It's the cart home.
Okay.
Yes.

(54:44):
Okay.
So anyway, I'm walking in and this guy is walking out and as he's walking out, he is
furious.
And I'm about, I don't know, distance from here to the wall.
What 15 feet or so.
So I hear him clearly from that distance.
So he's talking to himself, but he's loud enough that everyone can hear.

(55:07):
And the phrase that I hear out of his mouth is God damn f*****g f*****g cards.
Oh no.
At the moment I'm like, what is this?
And I'm super confused.
And then I stepped inside the door and he was talking about the guy at the exit that's
checking the receipts.
Okay.
Making sure you weren't a thief.

(55:28):
Yeah.
Now I go to this Walmart all the time.
It's convenient.
Right.
Frequent flyer.
Frequent flyer at this specific Walmart.
Yeah.
I've seen this guy work in the door for years.
Yes.
He has some challenges.
I don't know what they are.
It's none of my business.
All I know is that every time I've gone to this guy, he's been super courteous, but he

(55:49):
is super focused on his job.
I love that.
He is diligent.
He has a job to do.
And he does his job.
That's amazing.
Every time, all the time.
And he's a rule follower, I'm sure.
100%.
Love that.
Like he looks at the receipt and you can see that he is looking at it and going, okay.
It looks at the receipt, looks at the card.
That's so cool.
I don't think that I've ever spent more than maybe 15 or 20 seconds for this guy to check

(56:12):
my receipt and check the card.
Okay.
Question 15, 20 seconds on how big they purchase.
How hard are you going at Walmart?
80 bucks.
Not huge.
Half cart full?
No, no, no.
Like three bags.
Okay.
Three bags.
Okay.
Okay.
Apparently this guy did not want to wait the minute or two in line to have his stuff checked.

(56:33):
And what bothered me was what he said and how he said it.
It wasn't that he was simply frustrated.
He made it personal.
And what bothered me about it is that we talk about this all the time.
Like almost every episode we talk about entitlement and how people have become more vicious post
COVID.
I mean, like I remember, what was this?

(56:54):
Two months ago at this point, having a conversation with one of my owners about the fact that
people, our guests have gone into this attitude where personal attacks are acceptable.
And I don't mean like you're taking too long or whatever.
I have had guests flat out insult my employees based on their physical appearance, body weight,

(57:15):
their look, what have you.
I've had weapons brandish employees.
I've had milkshakes thrown at employees.
I had an employee get spit on recently.
All because of frustration.
And I get it that people can be frustrated, but the degree that people, in my opinion,
feel it's acceptable.
To express your frustration in even 20% of any of the things you just said is unacceptable.

(57:42):
That makes me so sad.
Five percent.
Five percent.
No, that's not okay.
No.
And it was one of those moments where it was like rewind the clock 10 seconds.
If I would have known what the situation was, I would have put that jerk on blast 100% right
there.
But when he said it, I was kind of shocked.
Like, where is this coming from?
And I didn't put two and two together until I stepped in the next set of doors.

(58:06):
And what do I see?
There's a line with like three people in it.
And this guy is doing his job.
That makes me really upset and sad.
Same with me.
I would have gone, I don't know what I would have done, but I would want to go out, find
that guy and egg his car as he drove by.
Because I would hopefully have eggs with me.
Well, you would have bought eggs on purpose.
Yes, to egg that motherfucker's car.
Because you know, he's in a Mercedes or something.

(58:28):
And I say that because I may have not been speaking to a therapist recently.
And she was telling me.
Wait, outside of the pod?
I know I have so much therapy.
Hey, you have different therapists than us?
I'm offended.
It's maybe.
But okay, good for you.
I thought this is your weekly square table.
No, no, I've got multiple.
That's how messed up this job makes me.
Okay?
No, that just makes you healthy.
Like I got a guy for everything.

(58:48):
You have a therapist for everything.
So shout out to my therapist.
I'm so happy.
I'm so happy.
I'm so happy.
I'm so happy.
I'm so happy.
I'm so happy.
I'm so happy.
So shout out to my therapist if you're listening.
But she was telling me about how they did this study and people in certain cars are
less likely to stop for pedestrians.
They did like a full study and like Mercedes Benz were one of them that were least likely

(59:11):
to stop.
But also part of the study was where people played Monopoly.
And at the beginning of the game, certain people, they gave them more money and the
people that had more money played differently.
And then at the end of the game, they would usually win because they started out with
more.
And they would never be willing to accept it was because they started out with more.
And these people with these attitudes of entitlement, you know, maybe they were given a little bit

(59:35):
much in their life and think that the world owes them something and that it's, you know,
ties into them.
They're that a-hole who yelled those horrible words at someone who's just doing their job
and their best, probably start off with a little more Monopoly money than everybody
else.
They probably drive that car.
They're least likely to stop for pedestrians.
And I'm sorry, I hope you get the next plague.
But you know, let's just me.
Next plague.

(59:55):
I don't know.
I hope every bed bug in California finds its way to your house.
Yes.
Exactly.
And it doesn't get treated by our friend here.
Recently, well, six months ago, I did a similar thing at a McDonald's.
I was at the drive-through.
And if you go through a drive-through, you go through because you don't want to park,
right?
You just want to go.
I don't want to park.
I don't want to walk.

(01:00:16):
I don't have to.
I don't want to stand in line.
And so I went through and I got to the window and they're like, okay, you need to park and
we'll bring out your food.
And the parking lot at the certain McDonald's is hard enough to get in and out of.
And I'm like, no.
And the look on this poor person's face was like, I don't know what to do.
But I had such a bad day.
First of all, I'm at McDonald's.

(01:00:36):
It means I'm having a bad day.
And I just said no.
And they gave me my food.
I have not been back to that McDonald's.
I will not go back.
I'm like, no, I can never show my face there again.
I remember those bad days though.
I get it.
I mean, we've recently, and Bill, you can attest to this.
We've recently wanted to start talking about how to change situations on like what could

(01:01:01):
a guest have done differently?
How could they have treated someone differently?
What could be the positive outcome of this?
You could go back to that McDonald's and just kill them with kindness.
Maybe.
Yes, I know.
But I am so embarrassed because it's a hundred percent not my personality.
And I was like, oh, I can never go there again.
Never.

(01:01:22):
Ever.
And it's very convenient.
And I like my Diet Coke.
Oh, I love a large Diet Coke from McDonald's.
Give me a large Diet Coke and a large fry.
I get what you're saying because it's happened to me recently where I may have gotten a little
upset and I'm like, I can tell I'm getting upset with this person who it's obviously
not their fault.
And it's funny story.

(01:01:42):
It was in a Walmart.
No way.
I was really upset because my stepdaughter, what she wanted for Christmas and I had painstakingly
searched high and low for a pink electric scooter.
And I found it at this one Walmart.
I bought it.
I wrapped it.
I gave it to her for Christmas.
She was so excited.

(01:02:03):
And we went to plug it in and there's no charger.
And I was like, oh, you probably didn't do it right.
You know, we finished putting the scooter together and we're looking at every crevice.
There's no charger.
And she was so disappointed and so heartbroken.
I mean, of course she was.
She's a child.
And also we don't have them every day.
We get them infrequently.
And so this was going to be the only chance she would have had to play with a scooter
for another month.
So I was infuriated.

(01:02:25):
They ruined her Christmas.
And I went into that Walmart with the box and I was like trying to keep my cool.
And I'm like, it's not this poor dude's fault going up.
He didn't pack the box.
I know.
And I know that.
And the thing is, I'm here in the moment and you know that, but so I'm trying to keep
my cool.
And I'm like, I need to return this.
And he's like, can I ask why?
And I'm like, yeah, there's no charger.

(01:02:45):
And I said, look, I'm even cool not doing this return if you can give me a charger for
it.
Oh, you can't do that.
I'm like, okay.
Well somebody else stole the charger out of this box and you take one out of another one.
I can't do that.
And I'm like, okay.
So how do I get another one?
Uh, I can do this return.
You can buy another one.
I'm like, uh huh.
No.
Um, I want to walk away here with a scooter.

(01:03:05):
I can't do that.
So I'm trying and he was a, you know, a young guy trying not to lose my mind with him.
And I'm like breathing, but I did say, I'm like, okay, I just like to return to do the
return please.
And then they were giving me trouble because I didn't buy it at that store.
Oh no.
And they're like, you didn't buy it at this store.
I'm like, I know.
Cause I had to go to a far away Walmart to find one in pink and they're like, well then

(01:03:29):
stock.
Yes.
And they're like, well, you can't return it here.
I'm like, that is absolute bull.
That and I started losing my cool and my husband's kind of like, he, it's okay.
It's not this little person's fault.
And I'm just like, how do I return the scooter without driving like 35 miles?
But so I get it.
I was mildly losing my cool and like, I had to keep reminding myself, which people should

(01:03:51):
do is you know what?
Yes.
This guy's taking a little bit longer to do his job and inspect your groceries.
But there's a reason why these processes are in place.
And I know he was just following the rules, but I was going to throw that scooter through
a wall, but I didn't.
So did you return the scooter?
I returned the scooter.
Oh, the original store.
You don't want to know the story.

(01:04:12):
Okay.
No, I'll tell you.
I had to go to the original store and return it.
And then they issued me a gift card, which I then bought another scooter online to have
it shipped to me.
Shut up.
And the next one that came, it came with a charger, plugged it in, no lights lit up.
We're like, hmm, maybe we just have to leave it for a while.
Left it for 24 hours.
Nothing ever lit up.
Nothing.

(01:04:33):
So the scooter was broken and I realized myself enough to know I'm losing my cool.
If I just looked at my husband and I said, this is your problem now, you need to go return
it or something bad will happen.
So you have to do this or I will end up in jail.
I will be in jail if I handle this.
So I did not handle that.
Well, at least you knew your limits.
I did.
Did the scooter have good reviews?

(01:04:54):
It did.
Oh, interesting.
Okay.
It did.
If you look up that scooter.
I thought you were going to be like, didn't even read them.
No, I did.
And then all these people bought it was like, oh, it was perfect.
Because it's a scooter for younger kids.
Yes.
And they're like, it was great for this age group.
And I wrote a review and was like, I bought two of them.

(01:05:15):
Didn't work out.
Didn't try it with a third.
But maybe as any wrecks for scooter, I'm still looking.
You can email us at og3tftsi.com if you have any pink scooter children's recommendations
for Miss Beat.
Electric scooters, guys.
Thanks.
Electric scooters.
And that's, we'll wrap it up.
I'm just kidding.

(01:05:35):
I'm just kidding.
But I think probably like, does she have a helmet?
Does she have elbow pads, knee pads?
Yeah, we've got everything.
Okay, okay.
Just not the scooter.
Okay, but any who's-y.
Oh, that's sad.
I know.
Back to the point of how we make these interactions better and how we could kind of not change
the narrative, but maybe change an experience.
What I personally do, because I have probably lost my cool.

(01:05:59):
Let's be real.
You are much more Zen than me.
I am.
I am the glass half full person, but what I like to do whenever I am interacting with
the public or individuals from the service or hospitality industry, I kill them with
kindness.
So at any point, if you are having a decent day, I think you could potentially make an

(01:06:20):
employee's day by simply asking, how are you doing today?
Because they're obligated to ask how we're doing.
Sometimes they're surprised to me that they're like, oh, I'm good.
Yeah, but like, how are you?
Are you having a good day?
Thank you.
Even just saying, thank you so much.
Have a great day.
You have no idea how much those little interactions and those little statements could truly make

(01:06:43):
someone's day.
I was recently, I moved.
I am very close to a Trader Joe's now and we love it.
So telly.
But the conversations I've had with just the checkout people, oh, we're chit chatting.
How is your day?
How is my day?
I told the guy at the checkout line last night that I was having a pizza night on Friday

(01:07:07):
with my friends and that is why I was buying random pizza toppings.
I mean, my cart was random as hell.
But no sauce.
I didn't buy sauce.
I didn't buy sauce.
And they even said, oh my God, this cinnamon bun coffee creamer.
I haven't worked in a couple of weeks.
Is this new?
The employee is asking me for a recommendation.

(01:07:29):
So I'm literally like, oh, oh, dude, tablespoon.
You still do your almond milk.
Maybe add a touch of cinnamon on top of the cinnamon bun creamer.
We had a great interaction and I walked away feeling really good and I hope I brighten
their day a little bit.
Well, yeah, you treated them like people.
It's crazy.
And you know, if maybe you're in a bad place or you're like us and you've had a bad day

(01:07:50):
and you can't do that, take a few breaths, know your limits, walk away.
Especially if you're not legally allowed to kill anything over two pounds.
I've had to walk away, come back.
Yes.
And then like, hey, I am really sorry.
Let's start this again.
That's huge.
That's huge.
Sorry, I needed a reset.
Just start this interaction again.

(01:08:10):
And I've done that.
I was a little worked up at Walmart with their customer service.
Literally.
I had to walk away.
I literally had to walk away.
Any big box store like that?
Walmart, Target, Costco, State of Rhodes, like anything.
No.
I'm not sponsored, but I have such different experiences at Target.
Whenever I go to Target, I'm always like, oh my God, it's like night and day.

(01:08:32):
What Target are you going to?
Because I need to go there.
Girl, I've had the best interactions at Target.
I get the best service at Target.
I have come there.
No, I get the lazy teenagers.
See, that's why people say I pay more to shop at Target so I don't have to shop at Walmart.
Literally.
I went to Target with clothes that had been bought for my daughter for her birthday.

(01:08:52):
I did not have receipts, but I know they're from Target because it's that brand.
I got a return and they're like, oh, do you have a receipt?
I'm like, no, it was a present.
They're just like, okay.
They return it and they scan your ID because you can only do so much per year, but they
didn't give me trouble.
They didn't harass me.
They just give you a gift card.
Yeah.
I told them, I'm going to go spend it right now, but this isn't her size.
When I've done that at Walmart, it's 20 questions.

(01:09:13):
I feel like a criminal.
I feel like I've done something wrong.
Also, I feel like the loss prevention team.
This is a great topic actually.
Loss prevention teams at retail stores like Walmart and Target or any big box store.
The cop that I was previously speaking about left the police department she was with to

(01:09:33):
be the loss prevention director at a Target.
That's amazing.
They normally do regions.
They normally have a regional loss prevention.
This store was so bad because it's in that city.
There is that.
It was in a neighboring city.
Okay.
The murder pours over.

(01:09:54):
Well, and by the statistics, where you live.
It was in the same county.
Okay.
You're still not really improving the argument.
No, I'm not.
But the store was so bad that those interactions at that Target might have been bad because
they think everyone is their ceiling.
Okay.
Yeah.
We could just be shopping at certain Walmarts, certain Targets, just certain stores in general

(01:10:18):
that just have a lot of loss.
These employees are tasked with making sure, okay, no, we don't accept returns without
receipt.
So, now my Walmart, my Target, they are right across from each other.
And you have different experiences.
Completely.
And that, by the way, both those experiences were at those Targets.
You could see the other one.
It's right over there.

(01:10:38):
All I know is I have a much better experience and I pay a little bit more at the red circle.
Well, I know from my point of view, I don't go to Walmart unless I know my patience is
as high as it can be because you always know.
You just know.
Yeah.
And you have to have that built in time for them to check your receipt.
It's just like going to Costco.
You're not going to walk out without someone going through your receipt.

(01:11:01):
Smile and deal with it.
Yeah.
Just smile and deal with it because you willingly went into that store.
Yes.
You know it's not your first time there.
That's a good thing to circle back to.
You chose to go to this place.
You know the drill.
This isn't your first time.
It's like going to Costco gas and getting mad.
You have to wait 20 minutes to get gas.
So cheap.
I know, but that's just boo on you for going at the wrong time.

(01:11:22):
I have never gone when there's not a line.
Right before they close or first thing in the morning.
Yeah.
Oh, see.
I am not an early bird.
So that's why I've never seen that.
Then just go before they close.
Typically, Costco gas closes well after the warehouse closes.
Oh.
So it should be open when you're coming home from work.
Interesting.
If you're late night grocery runs, just go to Costco and get gas.

(01:11:44):
Okay.
We see the line.
I'll pay the extra 10 cents.
Ms. B only goes grocery shopping at like 9 PM.
Holy smokes.
The last time I went to get gas, it was $4.89 at the gas station right up here on the corner
was $4.01 at Costco.
Oh, and you just don't work up for gas.
Like I know my spots around me.
And yeah, it was like $4.01 at Costco, but then it was $4.09, $4.10 at this one little

(01:12:08):
one I found by like a-
See, I just-
Bob's discount gas.
Yeah, something like that.
Going to podcast once a week, once every two weeks is like the most driving I do.
Must be nice.
My commute to work now is like 3.8 miles.
Nice.
We are not in the same tax bracket.

(01:12:28):
We are not.
No, I think we are.
I just-
You're just lucky that you get to live close to me.
I fill my gas camp every other day.
Oh no, I'm like every two weeks.
And I drive a Toyota truck.
Yeah, I'm in like a big mom car and I drive.
That's a medium mom car.
That's a medium?
Yeah, that's a medium mom car.
I mean it's not a suburban, but it's definitely not a-

(01:12:49):
Big mom car is like a suburban Tahoe.
Oh, I mean it's smaller than that, but-
You're in a compact SUV.
Do you have a third row?
No.
She's in a Equinox.
Yeah.
Oh, those are small.
Those are considered small.
Those are small.
Those are considered a mid-sized small.
I mean, I'm in a clown car.
You're in a small SUV.
Yeah, that's true.
She is.
This is going to sound weird to say, but great way to know if you're driving a clown car,

(01:13:10):
like a compact is your cup holders, are your cup holders in line or are they side by side?
Mine are in line.
In line?
If it's like one in front of the other, 99% of the time that is a compact car.
If they are side by side, that's going to be a mid or a full.
Oh, why is that?
Because of the width of the car.
The width of the car.
Mine are behind each other.

(01:13:31):
There you go.
Compact SUV.
Boom.
Wow, interesting.
I'm learning so much today.
So on that note, unless we have other things to share, why don't we wrap it here?
Let's do it.
Ladies, Linda, thank you so much for being with us.
I learned a lot about bugs more than I even knew and don't really like some of the things
that I learned, but I really appreciate you sharing what you shared.

(01:13:53):
And I hope that those that are listening maybe have a little better insight on what to ask
their vendors and how to handle their pest problems.
And how to check for bugs in your rooms.
This is very true as well.
Thank you for having me.
Liz, you want to take us out with the socials?
I would love to.
Please check out still our fairly new website, www.tftsi.com.
If you scroll all the way down on that page, there is a contact us.

(01:14:19):
Feel free if you have a story or if you want to be on the podcast and call in, feel free
to leave your contact info there and you can follow us on all of our socials.
We just suggest you searching in search bar, Tales from the Service Industry.
And if you want to email us, that is og3tftsi.com.
That is og3tftsi.com.

(01:14:40):
The consummate professional.
Crushed it.
Love it.
Thank you so much.
And we will be back in about two weeks.
Avenue podcast.net