ROOM 339
I had been invited to do a TV shoot in a city about 100 miles from where we live. My host said to come a day early so I would be rested and alert for the program. Yes, he would rent a room for us. We arrived at the hotel. Checked in. Already paid for. We looked around the lobby and huge dining area. They really wanted us to have the best, it seemed. We received our door keys (cards) and took the elevator to the third floor. We were walking down the hall looking for Room 339.
Sure enough, there it was. The housekeeper was just finishing the cleaning. We waited as she took her equipment out. And we walked in. Because the door was open we did not need to use our key. And what did we find?
A most luxurious suite. A full kitchenette, living room with a huge TV, two bedrooms, two bathrooms. Wow! we thought! The place must be full and this was the only room left. We certainly didn’t need all of this luxury, but let’s enjoy. We tested both king sized beds. Luxury! More pillows than four people would need. In that we were only going to be there one night, we gathered up all the soap and toiletry items. (We collect them wherever we travel to give to homeless people.) And my wife wanted to take a nap. Oh, so comfortable. She was soon off in dreamland.
I went to the living room. A friend from Hawaii had called while we were registering. I threw my room key on the coffee table and pressed our friend’s number. We were enjoying a conversation about “stuff” and how great this wonderful suite was. How generous our host was to give us such treatment. In the middle of a sentence, I looked at that room key. It did say 339, but I realized we were in Room 319! That as I walked down the hall, I “lost” the memory of 20 rooms!
I said, “Mel! I have to get off the phone immediately! We are in the wrong room!”
I hung up. Ran to the bedroom. “Wake up, honey! We are in the wrong room!” Groggily, she came back to reality. I scrambled to get the soap and toiletry items back in place. My wife straightened out the bed. Refolded and packed the clothes she had taken out of the suitcase. Got the fruit we had brought along out of the Fridge. I took the used Kleenex out of the trash cans. Refolded the toilet paper into a triangle, assuring the next tenants that the toilet had not been used…too much! Retrieved my toiletry bag from the bathroom and into my suitcase…all in less than five minutes!
We rolled our bags out the door and walked the twenty rooms to Room 339! A sheepish grin on our faces. No one was the better or worse off for our 20-room mistake!
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