Warsaw 1991 #4of5

We drove to the brand new Marriott Hotel, and explained to the door man that we just wanted to park for a few minutes, and sightsee in his hotel. The lobby was just as fancy as you can imagine for a hotel like this, any where in the world. Marble, brass, huge staircases, doorman and clerks in fancy uniforms, and rooms for the night were available for about one and a half-months pay for a Polish school teacher. We wondered why they would need a hotel like this, in a city like Warsaw, in this time in history. But it was sold out that night.

It so happens that a neighbor in California was a computer and management specialist for Marriott, and had spent time here, getting the Warsaw hotel open and running. He told the story of the difficulty of getting people to do the work. He mentioned one young man who had the skills needed to be a manager at the Warsaw Marriott. He was smart enough, but could not understand that he was to be at work every day, on time and properly dressed, and that he must make sure the people he supervised did the same, and did their jobs also.

They had a lot of problems when the Warsaw Marriott first opened. The people just would not believe they were to provide smiles and full service to everyone, without fail. They had never received such attention, and it was difficult to teach them to act in a manner they had never seen before.

Upon our return to the campground, I went to the restaurant nearby and bought an order of French Fries. The old black and white TV was showing a bad copy of an old Video from the USA. Which was worse, the old snowy TV picture, the bad, scratchy piece of video, the unspeakable video subject (a famous female singer), or the French Fries!

As I like to do, I walked around the campground and talked to people from several different countries. Nearby were two expensive RV’s from the Netherlands. The parents were traveling in one, their son and his wife in the other. Tonight was a wedding anniversary for the young couple, and the elders had treated them to the night in the Warsaw Marriott (over $200), and the four of them were meeting for dinner in the hotel restaurant. I wouldn’t (and Emmy says she wouldn’t) trade with them, even for one night. This RV living is just so comfortable and convenient.