Random Ramblings LXVII · 8:57am Jul 20th, 2016
IN WHICH I ACTUALLY DID SHIT, SORTA
It's been awhile since I wrote a blogpost. Sure, no one cares, but I feel the need to say something just in case anyone stumbles upon my profile and gets curious about my lack of updates. Follow me across the jump for a rather insane tale of illegality and insanity – not all of it mine for once.
This past weekend, my girlfriend and I went to the convention Tokyo In Tulsa… for work (we've been vending at Japan-themed cons for a few years now). We did pretty well, in case you're curious, but that's beside the point. Aside from the conventions run by our friends in Kansas City – where we're core staff – I don't think I've ever really had fun at a con. Though at least this con had a couple of enjoyable panels I was able to go to… and some other ones I would have liked to go to but couldn't due to timing and logistics.
Logistics. Y'know, I hadn't set foot in Tulsa in over 15 years before this weekend… after this weekend, I remembered why. Our boss had ignored our entreaties and waited until the last minute to actually lock down logistics, meaning the on-site hotel rooms were already sold out. So he instead attempted to set us up in an Extended Stay™ (that trademark will be important in a minute) several miles off-site. When we – me, my GF, and a couple of our friends – get there, it turns out that the place is NOT affiliated with the national chain – classic misrepresentation. They claimed to not "do" reservations and refused to honour ours (which our boss had, at least officially, already paid for). We eventually convinced them to let us see a room, and that's where things get crazy…
The room was, to put it nicely, a total shithole. Seedy beyond belief. Lights didn't work, sheets were dirty, everything smelled of smoke despite it being labelled as a non-smoking room (there was a cigarette burn on one of the mattresses). We went back to the front desk and requested a different room, to which the lady reluctantly agreed. This second room was a slight step-up in quality… except for the hide-a-bed mattress, which was so soiled it seriously looked like a body had decomposed on it. Regardless, we were prepared to grin and bear it… and then the situation got worse.
A man – White, bald, green T-shirt, thick redneck accent, probably a Trump supporter – suddenly appeared, shining an LED flashlight in our faces and demanding to know why we were "stripping the beds" (answer: to make sure there weren't bedbugs). He interrogated us like a cop, which he wasn't, and gave us an ultimatum to choose a room right then and there. I will admit that I responded to him in a manner most unkind. At that point, he noticed that our friend standing closest to him – let's call her Girl-A – was holding her con badge (which cost $65)… and he grabbed it out of her hand and beelined to the front desk. Girl-A is in the military, but this guy took her completely by surprise. She followed him. We all followed her. By the time I reached the front desk, Girl-A was asking the lady at the front desk to please return her badge. The dumbass fucking redneck was standing next to her saying not to – in other words, he was openly sanctioning theft. After the lady gives Girl-A her badge back, we try to explain ourselves, to which she responds, and I quote: "Well, this ain't the Ritz." Maybe not, but you should at least have standards. We informed them we wouldn't pay for either room and left. All of us are legit fearing for our lives at this point – I resist the urge to flip them off on my way out.
We found a place just down the road that actually was a national chain and was quite a nice place to stay in for a few days. I learned later that our other friend – let's call her Girl-B – had taken photos of some of the worst aspects of each room (including that soiled mattress) and sent them to our boss… who then forwarded them to the Oklahoma Department of Health. This may get interesting…
The con itself was fine. Unfortunately, my anxiety shot through the roof a few times, especially after Girl-B had to leave right before breakdown, leaving us a driver short. My panicking over logistics caused poor Girl-A to break down in tears, which I didn't mean to do, and my attempts to comfort her did not help. By the end, I think everyone was done with me.
As we all drove back home, my mind focused on all the ways I could atone for my sins, end my shame, all those great euphemisms. I'm going to pour those feelings into Sunset Shimmer (even more than I already have). Now my question becomes: How is Rarity going to pull her back from the brink? I don't know. But I certainly hope that my next story will be as difficult to read as it has been to write. Peace out!
