conflict of values

[cellio]

I recently traveled for business, and the hotel where I stayed -- as is becoming the norm in my limited experience -- asked clients to consider not having linen service every day to avoid waste. I don't replace my towels and sheets at home every day and I really don't need somebody else to make the bed (in the room I have to myself), so I've been on board with that for a while.

One morning as I was leaving my room, with the "do not disturb" sign on the door, I ran into one of the housekeepers. The conversation went something like this:

Her: You don't want me to clean your room?
Me: No it's ok; I've only used these towels once.
Her: Are you sure? It wouldn't be any trouble!

If I'd been caffeinated I might have picked up on the subtext, but it wasn't until later that I found myself wondering: is this policy costing people jobs? I'm guessing that very few people become hotel housekeepers if they have other options; is my desire to go gently on the planet at odds with my desire not to make it harder on people in low-end jobs who want to work?

This is far from the first time I've faced the "but the candle-makers will go out of business if we adopt lightbulbs!" idea, but this may be the first time that the "other side" of the issue isn't either convenience or economics but, rather, a liberal value. I mean, I pump my own gas even though there used to be people who do that, and I'm fine with that. I'd use the grocery self-checkout if it worked better, but I find the human cashiers to be faster and more accurate. I do stuff online that used to require dealing with a (paid) human being. Somehow this feels different. I'm not sure if I should care, but I did take notice of it.

I left a decent tip on check-out day.

Comments

[richardf8]

For me it's a whole other issue - My wife and I are fragrance sensitive, and we don't want the linens replaced just when the odor of fabric softener has finally left them.

[cellio]

Ooh, I never thought of that. (I'm sensitive to perfumes too, but apparently fabric softener -- which I don't use at home -- isn't strong enough to affect me.)

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

We talked about something like this, once, on LJ. Something about Amazon and local jobs and pricing.

Economics can be cruel, and increased efficiency can also be cruel. A smaller human footprint can mean fewer jobs. There is no simple answer that I am aware of. Change brings change, and can harm the most vulnerable among us more than others.

[cellio]

Yes, I remember the Amazon discussion. This felt a little different to me (more about eliminating jobs than (partially) relocating them), but it probably shouldn't feel different. As you say, there's no simple answer.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

A human face to go with the problem makes everything less academic and more real.

As it should.

[cjsherwood.livejournal.com]

Cleaning the room and changing the linens are separate... what I've seen are signs that say "Please hang up the towels you wish to re-use; leave those you want replaced on the floor." as well as asking the guest to leave a placard on the bed if one doesn't want one's sheets changed (which some hotels restrict the use of depending on length of stay, etc.).

But having the bed made, the trash emptied, the amenities re-stocked, etc. are still things I want done even if I'm ostensibly supporting the environment (and I will admit I'm actually a towel hog in hotels, although that's dropped some now that I usually bring my own bath sheet because it's big enough for me).

I do suspect there's an economic impact on people not wishing their rooms cleaned, etc... and, because there is no guarantee that the same person will be cleaning my room each day, I leave a note with tip daily during my stay; the houseman inappropriately took the tip I'd left for the housekeeper on the last day of my stay, as it turns out, but there were many other issues with him as well).

Just my experiences... YMMV of course and thanks for getting me to ponder all this!

[cellio]

Cleaning the room and changing the linens are separate.

That's a very good point. I was treating them the same but they aren't.

I've seen those signs in some hotels. Oddly, this one did not have any evidence of that convention; they asked guests to "go green" and not change towels and bedding every day, but the only obvious way to do that was to not service the room. (I suppose one could leave a note.)

I do leave a tip on any day I have the room serviced, not just the last day. That way the person who does the work gets the tip. (I hope it's that rather than they get pooled, anyway.)

[cjsherwood.livejournal.com]

I suspect your room was simply lacking the card or whatever that one is supposed to use to indicate that you didn't wish the bedsheets changed... the convention of "hang up towels you don't want changed and leave towels on floor that you do want changed" seems to have become standarad convention.

The card's absence, of course, isn't as noticeable as -- say -- a Do Not Bisturb sign but there was likely supposed to be one and you didn't have it. I always ask the front desk for a DnD sign when it's not in evidence. Likely same thing would work for the "I want to be green" option? if, in fact, you do.

;-)

[unique_name_123]

Diff people clean each day so your tip went to whoever was on duty that day. They probably hope you clean and tip every day.

[cellio]

Yeah, my practice is to leave a tip each day I have the room serviced. This time that was only on check-out day. (And I was only there two nights, so it's not like stuff piled up.)

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

What cjsherwood said: I don't want fresh towels every day, but someone to make my bed, empty the waste paper basket, make sure I'm not running out of coffee - yes please! Likewise, I don't like using the miniature toiletries - so wasteful, and I'd rather use my own (my own choice) anyway.

I don't like the self-checkout in the supermarket - and it had occurred to me that this is a job-maintenance issue, though that's not the only reason I don't like the automated version.

But I'm sure there's some equivalent thing that I'm doing without noticing the implications!

[cellio]

Yes, that's a good point about towels/linens being only part of the servicing of the room.

I don't like the self-checkout in the grocery as currently implemented; I have to do way too much work for produce, I can't parallel-process the bagging so it feels like it's bogging the line down, and if there is any problem at all I have to wait for somebody to take notice of me and come help. But I've used self-checkout in stores where it's easy to scan and go (no produce, not a lot of stuff, etc), and while part of me notes the job impact another part of me notes the efficiency. I do fear that, as with gas stations here, this is the way of the future and before too long we won't have the option of human cashiers.

[dagonell.livejournal.com]

I like the candle analogy. I'm stealing it. I've been using buggy-whips.

A recent trivia question on the radio: 52% of us love it, 12% of us feel stupid using it, the rest just hate it. The answer was self check-outs. I prefer human check out clerks. I don't think it's the math, it's letting someone else bag.

Interesting observation on the hotels. I'll have to think about it.

[cellio]

I don't like the self-checkouts as currently implemented (see my comment to shewhomust), but I suspect they'll be the only option in many stores in a few years. I hope they fix them first.

Bagging is a factor. I don't mind bagging myself, but with a human cashier we can parallel-process. With the self-checkout, I can scan or bag but not both, so the whole thing takes, if not twice as long, at least half-again as long.