Brighten Your Day

I work as the reception manager at my hotel.

A booking came in a few weeks ago with a note attached that the guest will be travelling with their deaf father. Just so that we would be aware when dealing with them when they arrived as they were here for a number of days and his daughter wanted to make his trip to Ireland as smooth as possible.

Upon seeing this note and noting I would be the one to check them in as I was rostered for their arrival time, I decided to learn some very basic sign language. I greeted the guest in my usual fashion, asking for the surname on the booking. Once I heard the name I realized immediately who was standing in front of me.

I had been learning for two weeks how to say "welcome to Ireland. My sign language is terrible, but please if you need anything during your stay just let me know and we will help you".

I smiled at the father and daughter in front of me, turning to the father I greeted in ASL and began the bit I had learned for him. His daughter broke down crying and called me sweet. But the father just smiled and was so happy. Honestly seeing his reaction was enough for me. It was so worth the last few weeks of learning basic ASL.

On check-out I sadly wasn't working, but they had left a gift for me. A small box with some chocolates and a book on ASL. Inside the inscription "thank you very much for what you did on check-in. My father has been in amazing form since you checked us in and insisted we get you a gift before we left. You have no idea how much this meant to my father and I and we can't thank you enough. You've made his trip home to his family after 50 years very special with one simple gesture".

They wrote a letter to the GM also asking to give me a raise, which I really appreciated. And gave us an amazing review on TA. I cried for a solid 5 minutes when I came into work today to find this gift in my locker.