Harassed in Drag!

pinkslip submitted 131 days ago

This story goes back quite a ways, but it was completely insane. This was one of my earliest jobs---a front desk gig at a motel while I was attending college. The owners were a husband & wife: he ran the maintenance, and she ran the front desk and housekeeping. They both lived on the premises.

"Lydia" (not her real name) had had me pretty much to herself while training me for check-ins and reservations. She tended to staff housekeepers on an on-call, as-needed basis, so she typically found herself short-handed. There were a few weekends when Lydia gave me extra hours cleaning rooms.

Okay, so one night late in the fall season she leaves me a box at the desk. It's tied with a big black ribbon. There's a card (sealed in an envelope) that reads: "If you want extra hours this weekend, I could use an extra maid." Inside the box is a little black dress with a lacy apron, high-heels, and pantyhose. Later into my shift, she rang me at the desk. Lydia claimed all the housekeepers and desk staff were going to wear "costumes," and that that was mine! Then she proceeded to schedule me---actually SCHEDULED me---two hours for my "makeover."

And I'm so stupid, I went. To her room. In a motel. To be painted up and dressed like a hooker.

I don't know if the rest is worth going into the details. She grabbed me inappropriately. (Seriously. Just plain grabbed "it.") Like a vicitm in a bad made-for-TV movie, I had to run down a flight of stairs in my stocking feet and change clothes in the lobby restroom.

Afterwards, my hours "mysteriously" vanished from the printed schedule. I tried to transfer to the "husband's" maintenance crew. All I said was that Lydia didn't have any hours for me, and I knew how to repair sheetrock and fix toilets. I'll always remember his reply:

"Lydia needs a maid. If you know anyone that's interested, that's the position needs filled."

::shudder::