Competence or Pride?

I’ve been away. That’s why I haven’t posted anything. I’ve been on the road and have encountered another instance of what appears to be the general lack of competence in modern society.

I was at a hotel. The name of the hotel is unimportant but it happened to be Bally’s Park Place in Atlantic City. There is a very nice Chinese restaurant there called Mr. Ming’s. It’s overpriced like all hotel restaurants but it’s pleasant enough and the food is pretty good. Since reservations are advised I decide to call down shortly after checking in. I checked the number in the hotel directory, which turned out to be a general reservations number, and called. I got a recorded “thanks for calling and someone will be with you shortly” message and then got put on hold listening to recorded advertisements about Bally’s. Ten minutes later I was still on hold and decided perhaps it was too early to call for reservations, hung up and wandered off.

Two hours later I tried again, with the same result. I then tried several more time with the same result. At that point I decided to stay on hold. Perhaps lots and lots of folks were calling for reservations. Twenty minutes later I gave up and called the front desk. I got a busy signal. At that point I noticed an express button for the hotel desk and hit it. Amy answered the phone. I explained that I had been trying for a good part of the day to make a restaurant reservation. Amy asked me what number I had been calling and then profusely apologized saying that all the numbers in the directory had been changed and that she would transfer me to the right number.

Hmmm, while it seemed strange I was happy that at least now I had ringing. I continued to have ringing. Then I continued to have ringing. After about 30 rings I decided to hang up and call Amy back. She apologized again and again said she would transfer me. This time I managed to ask her what the new number was and wrote it down, just in case. This time a very polite gentleman answered the phone and took my reservation for 7:30 PM. It had been a struggle, but at least I finally had a dinner reservation.

Or at least I thought I did. At the appointed time we went down to Mr. Ming’s only to find the door closed. Asking at the coffee shop next door I was informed that Mr. Ming’s was closed on Monday’s and, sure enough, it was a Monday.

I also enquired at the Bell Station about getting an updated phone list since Amy had told me that the numbers had all been changed. The Bell Hops assured me that the numbers were in fact correct. One Bell Hop wryly observed that I could always tell if I had the right number for restaurant reservations by the fact that no one answered the phone. I suspect that they’ve heard about this before.

The next day I decided to try again by calling the extension Amy had given me. I got a busy tone even before I typed in the full number which usually indicates it’s an illegal extension. I hit the front desk button again and this time Sheryl answered. I explained the situation and Sheryl asked me which restaurant. I told her Mr. Ming’s and she said she would transfer me to a direct line. I got the same recorded message as the general number. I hit the front desk button again and Sheryl transferred me again. This time a woman answered the phone and when I tried to make a reservation rather curtly informed me that Mr. Ming’s was closed on Tuesdays, and, sure enough, it was now Tuesday.

This is a hotel that has clearly lost its vision. This was so far beyond my experience that I didn’t know what to make of it. Hotels are usually the most precise outfits around. Usually you are in awe of how effortlessly they manage to account for your merest whim. The crew at Bally’s had me looking around to see if Allen Funt had been resurrected and I was on Candid Camera. Talk about a gang that couldn’t shoot straight?

So what’s the deal here? Previously when I’d bemoaned the general lack of competence in the world people countered with something like it’s due to the complexities of modern society. Well there was nothing complex here. How could no one answer the number for restaurant reservations at a hotel which has several restaurants at which reservations are advised? What was with Amy? Was she playing a trick on me by telling me the numbers had been changed? Last, but not least, who was the guy who took my reservation? Was he playing a trick or didn’t he know the damn restaurant was closed?

Why do I have the feeling that these people didn’t care either? There was a time when folks prided themselves on doing a job as well as they could. Now, more often than not, I get the feeling they’re trying to do as little as possible to get by. If that inconveniences someone or causes a problem, well that’s just tough because they’re not getting paid enough to worry about it.

Perhaps modern complexity sometimes causes things to go wrong beyond anyone’s control. Unfortunately I’m beginning to suspect that more often than not things go wrong because people just don’t have the self respect and pride to always do the best they can anymore.

If that’s true, then why is that now the case? What has gone wrong with this country?