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Although it’s a distant bad memory for many of us, Covid made for millions of changes in our collective lives. During the worst of it, the pandemic meant hoarding toilet paper and hand sanitizer, Zoom gatherings, and, of course, to date, the deaths of nearly 7 million people worldwide.

For lots of us, Covid meant a change in jobs. For some, it meant working remotely. Others had to find somewhere else to work because the place where they were employed closed. Still others became part of what became known as The Great Resignation.

“…a radical shift in Americans’ relationship with work. Spanning industries and income levels, people are, as Klotz predicted, leaving their jobs in unprecedented numbers. They are changing employers, “downshifting” on the career ladder, or taking time away from the workforce altogether. With new clarity and savings from the Covid era, some workers have stepped back from precarious frontline jobs made brutally hard in the pandemic. Others report forgoing opportunities for money or status in exchange for greater flexibility and self-determination.”(Wired, Nov. 2021)

“More importantly, workers simply want to be recognized; in fact, according to bonusly.com, 63 percent of those in a recent survey who said they are regularly recognized also said they are very unlikely to look for a new job.” (Inc., Aug. 2021) That particular reason for quitting is not new to the workforce. What’s more, those who leave because of lack of recognition often go at a low boil for months or even years, and finally explode.

That’s apparently what happened to a worker at a Staybridge Suites in Iowa during the height of the pandemic. The worker, a front desk clerk named Milly, was interested in a management position. She and her supervisor, Brian, discussed the possibility of her being promoted to Assistant General Manager or Director of Sales. According to her, Brian was nothing but positive about the idea. Yet not only was she passed over for the said position, but when she asked Brian about it, he told her she was being ridiculous.

And that’s when Milly decided she had something to say to Brian.

Here’s what a Reddit writer, vinboslice420 posted on the forum about it:

Got locked out of my hotel room, went to find the front desk lady and this was on the counter.

Since starting here, I have stepped up and had your back through many things. I have stepped into positions simply to ensure our guests have a great stay. I have gone above and beyond to accommodate not only our guests, but for you, employees, and the ever-changing schedule. Not only that, I have done it all with a smile on my face.

We’ve spoken numerous times regarding a management position. When I expressed my interest in an AGM position, you told me those weren’t available at the moment, but I was a great candidate for when one did become available. You also told me you wanted me in the Director of Sales position when Jessica left. Because I truly enjoyed my job, I never pushed the issue. I always figured you would tell me more when the time came. On August 13, you emailed me an attachment showing a new manager listed. When I asked you about it, you were cold and short. I asked you about it the next day and you told me “This discussion is over, Milly You’re being ridiculous.” Being HURT, is not being ridiculous, Brian. I have worked my tail off working doubles, coming in on my days off to do social, cleaning rooms, folding laundry, preparing breakfast, all while watching the Front Desk as well… Just for you to offer no explanation as to why a new manager was hired and I wasn’t even considered? Then when I try having that conversation with you, BEING SHUT DOWN? I’ve thought long and hard about why that could possibly be. Perhaps because I don’t wear my uniform? I was always taught to dress for the position I want. Not the one I have. Other than that, I’m stumped. I have gone the extra mile for this hotel and its guests. I have PERSONALLY received many amazing and 5 star reviews on Google. I have cross trained and LEARNED many different positions to keep this hotel afloat. I have put everything into this, and this is what I get in return?

One of our guests once told me “They would never give you a promotion here because you do everything a manager should do in your current position. Why buy the cow when you can have the milk for free?” After having to cancel my flight in order to work due to being short staffed, a friend of mine told me “They’re just going to run you dry until they don’t need you anymore”. Even in a time of need, you’ve still managed to make me feel unvalued in such a short amount of time. I have given a great effort and got a huge slap in the face. I no longer want given this a area or need this for my life. Truthfully, I’ve stayed because of the genuine bond I’ve formed with our guests and because I respected you, Brian. I didn’t want to see you or this hotel fail. However, I stepped up and you let me down. You’ve been quite rude with the discussions I’ve tried having lately. I would be treated better at McDonald’s.

In conclusion, I QUIT.

The photo went viral on Reddit, with over 9.2 thousand comments.

Virtually all replies were in agreement with Milly, with responses such as:

• As a former hotel front desk employee, I salute Milly. It is a hard thankless job, harder then all my jobs as a server.
• Retail/food service/customer service in general [are like that] in my experience e. Skeleton staff all the time, if you can do more, you seldom are noticed with promotions or raises. You often working yourself into a position you’ll never raise out of because what the empire receives in exchange for the money cannot be matched. Essentially, you become too valuable to move because of the cost/value that you’re killing yourself to provide.
• I work in the industry but not directly affected the same way as the typical staff. The rule I have noticed in all the years I’m been around is the only way to move up is to move on.
• I was on a business trip, and had dinner with one of the executives and a couple of dept heads. Anyway the conversation turned to one of our account people. This person works her a** off everyday makes her managers look good. Basically” we can’t promote her, she is a work horse and you can pile as much work on her and she will get it done” basically she was to valuable to promote.
• In a world full of Brian, be a Millie.
• I am a front desk lady at a hotel and this produces sparks with me. I get yelled at by people all night long and I still smile and put up with it. My boss says oh I’ll give you a raise over and over and I have to fight for that damn dollar raise.
• One of the best pieces of advice I got early in my career: Never be too good at a bad job.
• Like I totally understand wanting to keep a person in a position because they’re good at it. But that doesnt prevent you from paying them more.
• Wow. I just quit my job working at a hotel for pretty much the same reason as well! Moving on to better horizons, studying programming and escaping the hospitality industry.
• The most disappointing thing is that Milly most likely agonized over this situation. Poured her heart and soul into this job. Probably spent hours if not days or weeks thinking about this letter and how to word it perfectly to describe her situation. This a**wipe Brian is gonna read it, toss it the garbage, and continue to treat people like s**t.
• People don’t quit jobs, they quit managers. (Note from Sharon: Amen. Been there, done that.)
• But I thought employees were quitting because of government handouts? Lol.
• Brian, Brian, Brian. You ALWAYS promote from within. This creates loyalty and incentive. I guess some need natural consequences to learn lessons.
• Small wet spots on the words “many” “no” and “available” could indicate this person was crying when holding this before putting it down. How sad.
• The hospitality business is basically just like this everywhere. Tip well, and offer compliments for good service, because as a guest, you may be the only way great employees get the feedback they deserve. It’s sad but true.
• “nO oNe WaNtS tO WoRk AnyMoRe” -Brain and the other ghouls.
• I spent 10 years working in hotels and this behaviour is common. The truly great employees love and live for the guest experience but get taken advantage of by poor management.
• I worked at a hotel for several years and crossed trained in every department. After 4pm I was the only shuttle driver, housekeeper, security personnel, or even cook. I was also always overlooked for a promotion or even recognition.
  I decided I wanted to transfer to a larger property in hopes to move up to a higher position however my GM didn’t like the idea of losing an employee that did everything. He wrote me up for petty things so I would have to stay at my current property for 6 months, until the write up fell off your record. I quit shortly after I realized what was really going on.

Looks like Milly’s predicament resonated with a lot of people. You can read more comments here – heads up for adult language.

One comment in particular (well, along with the plethora of “Eff you, Brian!” replies) made me smile:

• Don’t leave us hanging- did you get back in your room?

Anyway, the very first comment in the thread is the one I found the most interesting, along with a few others down the thread:

• I would forward this letter to corporate HR because you know Brian is about to bury this situation.
• Even better, if its a chain hotel, complain to customer service and corporate will bring the hammer down. I worked at a Holiday Inn for a few years and corporate does not f**k around.

The thread was eventually closed because commenters were posting personal information about the people referenced in the post and frankly, that’s not cool. Reddit did manage to clean up a lot of the thread so there was little, if any personifying information on it. However it wasn’t difficult to track down the hotel in question.

Once they knew where it was, a lot of Redditors wrote bad reviews of the hotel on places such as Google and TripAdvisor, but it appears that most of those have also been cleaned up. Just a small handful remain, like this one from TripAdvisor:

Our take on it

There are always 3 sides to a story – the ones of both parties, and the truth. And, of course, as one other Redditor did mention, all we ever saw was Milly’s side of the story. We’ll probably never hear Brian’s.

But if nothing else, this slice of “hotel drama” does teach us 2 things:

• If you’re looking to go up the corporate ladder and it’s not happening, maybe look elsewhere.
• Always be kind to people working in hospitality – it may be the only “good” thing that’s happening to them at that job.

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