Michaela Bertram
ENG 1101 09
Professor
Maltman
02/06/17
Dadager
When we think of a hotel manager we might
think about The Suite Life of Zack and Cody on Disney channel. Jumping on beds,
taking naps in the room, and even ordering room service. In reality, that is
not the case. Working 70 plus hours a week on their feet. Not taking the time
to sit and eat lunch because they are busy running around. Missing holidays and
birthdays to have the hotel fully staffed is what being a hotel manager looks
like in today’s life.
A Dadager is a mix between a dad and
a manager. The trick if finding that fine line. The line between being a great
dad and a great manager. Being able to fully devote yourself as both all the
time is nearly impossible. This is something Rick has accomplished in his 25
years in the hotel industry. He has been a dad for 23 out of his 53 years of
life. Being fully engaged with all six of his kids while running his hobby farm
and being a present husband. He is the world’s greatest dad, farmer, husband,
and hotel manager but it is starting to show. You can see the exhaustion that
lives deep inside him as he sits down for a minute. You can see the gray hair
beginning to sprout from the stress of running a hotel. You can see the worry
lines forming around his face from the worry it takes h to raise six successful
humans. This is the look of a Dadager.
“Would I recommend this career too
someone? Yes, I absolutely would. But be prepared. It takes a lot. Be ready for
some hard decisions, long hours, and great memory’s. Trust me the positives out
way the negatives.”
With any job, there are bad days
this includes being a hotel manager. The
hotel can flood causing the need to evacuate. The laundry room can start on
fire in the middle of the night when a sheet gets stuck in the dryer. Employees
can hit rough spots leaving the manager with a tough decision. Do we let go of
this employee? Do we keep them around and pick up their slack? All while in the
back of their head they know this employee needs this job to support their
family. These decisions can break your heart. Wanting to do what is best for
your employees while keeping your hotel in business. Bad days exist. “One of
the worst days of my career was getting called in on a weekend to help clean up
after a football team decided to go to the bathroom on the bed. Yes, you heard
that right. That will probably forever be marked as my worst day on the job”
Everybody on this planet has good
days and bad day. It is how we handle these kinds of days that show who we are
as a person. Do you see the cup as half empty? Or half full? Seeing the cup as
half full with room to improve is the way hotel managers think. When you feel
like you have hit your peek, when you are the best person you can be keep
going, there is more room to improve. There is always a way to better yourself,
your employees, and your company.
Being
with a company for over 25 years can provide you with some unique and amazing opportunity.
“ The Best moment of my career was when President Bush was
coming to Minneapolis for a town hall meeting and based on our location and for
security reasons our hotel was chosen for the event after several weeks of
review by the Secret Service, White House Police etc. Preparation for the
event was very exhausting with all employees completing back ground checks and
working through logistics including communication lines being brought into the
hotel. The day of the event was very exciting, and
stressful!! Individual employees were given pins that granted them
different accesses to the building. All vending machines were removed for
security reasons. All windows were blacked out to prevent a coordinated
attack from the outside. A bomb sniffing dog, and a soldier who had
recently returned from Afghanistan completed a search for bombs in the
building. Heavily armed security was given access to the roof tops.
I had a chance to walk through the room and stand behind the podium that the
President would speak at. The only thing that was missing was the
Presidential Seal, which is only placed on the front of the podium when the
President is about to speak.
The event went perfectly. Towards the end of the town hall
meeting, I was approached by the lead Secret Service agent that I was needed in
the back hallway behind the ballroom. I was told to stand in a very
specific place. Within a minute the President of the United States exited
the ballroom and approached me to thank me and the team for all of our
efforts. I had the opportunity to engage him in conversation for a couple
of minutes before it was time for him to leave. As the President
walked away from me, surrounded by the Secret Service, one agent with an
automatic weapon, walked backward, maintaining eye contact with me until the
President was safely in his motorcade. An event that I will never forget.”
The small moments, the big moments,
the good moments and the bad moments are what make this job so amazing. Who
know running a hotel with over 300 employees while raising 6 kids and being a
devoted husband could look this good on a man. Yes, there are struggles. Yes,
some days are better than others. But the gray hair, worried lined, exhausted
man that wears so many shoes while playing so many rolls is my very own Dadager.
