Week 2 Prompt. It was the first, but not the best, -- or was it?

My jobs have always been very important to me. I have worked at quite a few different businesses by now and got a taste of a few different careers. I have always found out that I can not stay at a job that I do not enjoy, for I will forever be the determined one to work in an environment I like. My very first job was at a hotel, house keeping. This place is in beautiful downtown Camden, Maine. It was the first, but not the best--or was it?

This job was my first real one. I needed money and didn't care what field I was in for I was 16. It was house keeping and might I add, I thought I knew how to clean but when cleaning for a hotel, you really learn all the nitty-gritty details of what cleaning really means. I didn't get the hang of it until a few weeks in and I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. Once mid-July came we were booked solid every day and it was a real test for me because we had to have the rooms clean before check-in time. Days when it was 85, busy and only 2 of us cleaning were the tough ones. With back issues I wanted to walk out so many times. It wasn't an easy job at all. However I truly took pride in knowing when I left a room, I did a great job.

I came back again the following Summer to work there. When I drove to Camden for my first day back I couldn't decide if I was going back because I enjoyed it, or because I had such a great boss and people to work with. Our head house keeper was much older and some days she looked so tired. Wrinkly skin, sagging eyes, the LONGEST messiest hair always put up in a bun by the same clip. She complained often but I could always get her to laugh or to talk about what really bothered her. We usually cleaned the same room at the same time so the day would go quicker and go smoother.


When I look back now I really valued my job at Towne Motel.  It was the beginning point to my hospitality career. I am now a front desk clerk and have accepted a managerial job at another inn down the road from where I am now. I feel as though without the cleaning job I wouldn't have realized how much I love this business. People and tourists in general can be EXTREMELY annoying and very demanding. However, its those moments in which you go above and beyond to make somebody happy that they acknowledge your efforts or give you a great review on TripAdvisory; it makes it all so worth it.  Although cleaning hotel rooms isn't my forte, it was the first but not the best--yet at the same time it sort of was. It was one of the best experiences.

Today, I still stop by there and say hello. I had to leave my job there last Summer due to working two jobs and it just getting so overwhelming working doubles 5 days a week. I've learned a lot with the jobs that I have taken on thus far. I believe I am the happiest where I am now and will be moving on to a higher position very soon. It is exciting and I give all the thanks to those I worked with in Camden, they taught me what it means to really work, be precise and on time. Looking back I believe it was the best and I can smile thinking about it. Yet I will never take on another cleaning job, I'll be the one hiring other people to do it for me.   :)