Bob Wood

Our night desk clerk, auditor and assistant manager (Bob Woods) also had a weird sense of humor. One night, feeling very tired, I laid on a couch in the ante room and asked Bob to ring the phone if I was needed. He, being a congenial person, agreed.

Sometime later the phone rang and I awoke in a circle of fire. Bob had taken all the waist baskets available, put paper in them and set them afire,. Most people would need the recovery help of a psychiatrist, but, I being of strong character did not become psychotic or mad.

I got even.

Bob Wood began to feel left out of these interesting activities. This particular night there were reservations for a wedding party. Bob, very demandingly stated that this was his night of observation. However, Bob was not going to expose himself to the danger of being seen. My orders were to set up a particular room with the bed close to the window and the lamp on the far side. By raising the shade a half inch, the couple would not notice it. Bob could then observe the activities from the window of another room.

The basement workshop was occupied by a short, stout Swedish engineer (Ed Svenski).

When I explained my reasoning, Ed couldn't wait to be part of the plan. He loaned me

a powerful spotlight and an extension cord. I mounted the light on the hotel roof aimed at the window that Bob would use. The extension came from an outlet on the roof. The light and extension were left disconnected.

The wedding couple registered and I took them to their room making sure everything was as planned. At the end of a half hour, Bob said to me, "Take the desk. I'm going upstairs."

When the elevator returned I said to the operator, "Take the desk I'm going upstairs."

Looking down from the roof I could see Bob's body half out the window. It must have been a great show till I turned on the spotlight.

My God! What a crash! I thought he broke the window.

I rode the elevator back to the main floor and opened the door only a crack.

There stood Bob pointing his finger at me saying, "You're fired!"

I returned, "You wouldn't dare."

Nothing lasts forever. Even the hotel fun ceased when gasoline rationing brought a halt to travel. The hotel business suffered tremendously and I along with it. Income ceased requiring a new approach to career seeking. I still had not been approached by the draft board.

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