I've worked for this cheap hotel chain that specializes in extended stays for over a year and I'm 100% sure I'm being terminated on Wednesday. I've worked in customer service since I was 19 and I've always hated it. I've done college, but I can't work in that field without a master's, so I'm kinda stuck for the time being.
Before getting the job at the hotel I worked in food, fast food for about 3½ years, about 7 years total. In 2020 I started showing severe chronic pain, to the point that I was bed ridden for about a year. This is what lead me yo my front desk role, because I didn't have to constantly be on my feet. For the most part I was okay with customers, just not overly peppy. I'm what a lot of neurotypical people would call a “high functioning” autistic, and it's to my detriment. Nine out of ten times somebody calls me rude I'm genuinely confused about what they're referring to. I've been told “is not what you say, it's how you say it” but I'm only trying to be as clear as possible. It's to the point that I'm worried that EVERYTHING I say sounds offensive.
It's hard enough that some people look for reasons to berate customer service workers, but I'm convinced that people hate me the moment they see my face. The last straw for my work was this woman who got personal because I couldn't move her room. For context, this hotel is in a medical center, right next to a cancer hospital people travel from far and wide to recieve care at. Unfortunately, this place is a fucking dump. Its infested with roaches, dishwashers, door locks, etc. are falling apart, and people trash the rooms and ruin linens on the regular basis. Because of this, we place priority on those who are elderly, have mobility issues and/or are terminally ill. This woman had nothing wrong with her room, it was just inconvenient because it was in the middle of the hall. I made it clear that while I'd like to move her room to the specific place she wanted, I couldn't because there weren't any available and I couldn't promise that I'd be able to later in the day. To that she said, “what does that have to do with me?”, “I don't care about your promises.” I legitimately couldn't move her. I kept saying I was sorry, but I couldn't move her room, and she just stands there staring me directly in the eyeball. Because I didn't want to look weak, and I wanted her to know I meant it, stared back. From here on, she had a vendetta against me. Last week she and her husband came down to pay for their room and refused to put their card into the terminal until they got to fully chew me out, saying I was a “little girl” and I had mental problems.
I called my boss right after telling her I wasn't okay with the verbal abuse this customer's subjecting me to, and she promised me nothing bad was gonna come out of this. She lied and took the customer's side, even though she's given the same treatment to my other coworkers.
So they didn't schedule me at all this week… except for Wednesday. I'm thinking about just not going. I've applied for about 10 jobs and none of them have gotten back to me. I'm a nervous wreck and I'm fucking exhausted. It shouldn't be normal or acceptable to treat people like punching bags and punish them for not smiling through the pain. I'm thinking about selling my art, but that's way easier said than done. Oh, and I work and live in Texas, so I'm in s right-to-work state.