Motoring to New York recently to watch the Detroit Tigers play the Yankees at the revered Yankee Stadium taught me two very important life lessons: Mayor Michael Bloomberg is genuinely a man of the people; and when it comes to height standards at a national hotel chain, size does matter. Permit me to explain.
My 65th birthday was a memorable event as my son and I celebrated this momentous occasion by attending Opening Day at Comerica Park. The Tigers unfortunately lost but the day was salvaged when my son presented me with tickets for an upcoming Tigers/Yankees game in New York. What made this so special was that the game was to be played on my son’s birthday and as most baseball fans know, this is to be the last year for The House That Ruth Built ? Yankee Stadium.
My intention was to surprise my son with upgraded seats so I contacted Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor David Paterson and Yankee owner George Steinbrenner and suggested that if their seats for the game were not being used perhaps a couple of out-of-town fans could be the new occupants. Mayor Bloomberg responded stating that he in fact does not have season tickets but he took the time to send a personalized letter to my son for his birthday hoping that he would enjoy his stay in New York.
This was totally unexpected but certainly reflects, in my opinion, why he is so revered in the Big Apple. On the other hand when we entered the ballpark and saw the duct tape on the reserved box seats, Bloomberg may be waiting to purchase season tickets when the new stadium opens in 2009! By the way, we never received the courtesy of a response from Steinbrenner or Paterson. Now I realize that both of them receive numerous letters and requests everyday but a simple ‘NO – are you crazy?? response to my letter would have been a nice gesture. So Bloomberg goes to the top of my list of World Class Mayors! The Tigers winning the game was a plus but somehow I think Bloomberg arranged that too just to make up for not providing us with tickets!
Our next adventure came when we spent the night at a Hampton Inn. Now let me say at the outset that the staff, the ambience, the food and the surroundings were first class. What was a bit disturbing though was the showerhead, of all things. Entering the shower in the morning was like being a Lilliputian in a world of giants. The showerhead was positioned so high that even my 5?10? frame had trouble adjusting the water stream. I had to stand on my toes and I spent the remainder of the time contemplating how turning 65 had somehow started the height reduction malady that senior citizens so often experience!
Upon checking out later that morning I mentioned my experience to the front desk staff. Their response was simple and straightforward: Hampton Inns had done a survey and determined that the majority of their business traveler guests were 6?2? and thus the showerheads were adjusted accordingly to accommodate these behemoths. And in fact the sinks were also raised for the same reason. At this point I realized that size does in fact matter and I experienced the psychological impact of being height challenged!
As a follow-up, I forwarded an e-mail to Hampton Inn management regarding this incident, which elicited the following response from the General Manager: ‘Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience you experienced with our showers. Our hotel was constructed to Hampton brand standards, which specify showerhead heights. Until these specifications change, a solution would be to request a room with accessible features that have handheld showerheads.?
My response in kind to this explanation asked what would happen if I returned but with a broken arm. How would I hold the shower wand and would the hotel supply someone with a luffa to help me bathe. Just like the Steinbrenner and Paterson letters, I have not received a response! So all in all despite my feelings of height inadequacy, it was a great trip. The Tigers swept the Yankees and I am doing stretching exercises in the event we return to New York and I need to take a shower!