A “Shout Out” to my Aunty Chris

Just To clarify, Aunty Chris is not actually my aunty. She is the hotel accounts controller who incidentally possesses all of the attributes one looks for when selecting an “aunty” type figure.

With her silver hair and garish eye make up she has no problems in telling me if my neckline is too low or if i’ve gained a pound or two. She wouldn’t think twice about telling an embarrassing story about me to complete and utter strangers nor would she hesitate to use her wet finger to wipe a mark off my face whilst in the presence of company.

Aunty Chris is probably amongst my favourites of all the people I work with. And the reason I have chosen this particular week to give her “shout out” is because she is, believe it or not, turning 60 tomorrow. So come on... let’s have a...

“WOOP, WOOP”

There’s a lot I could say about this lovely lady who has brought joy to my life in so many ways. But I think the following, if nothing else will give you an idea as to why I adore her as much as I do.

Aunty Chris does not, I repeat not, get on with the boss. What can I say except that they are just different people with different ideas about how the hotel should work. The boss for example feels that, on special occasions such as valentines day and mothers day, a different folder should be set up in addition to the usual restaurant diary where any lunch or dinner bookings should be recorded. Aunty Chris however thinks that, rather than a separate folder going into operation, it is more practical and cost effective to simply place a separate sheet of coloured paper in between the pages of the usual diary, as this will avoid confusion, and of course take up less space. I have always strongly agreed with Aunty Chris in this scenario which is why I only go into the office to get the folder out of her stationary cupboard after she has finished work and tell her that it was the bosses idea when she spots it the next day.

Aunty Chris is the proud owner of a white trouser suit which she wears only in summer. Now I personally think that it looks fantastic but the only thing that gets me about it is that for some strange reason, I get the song “night fever” stuck in my head whenever she wears it. I’m not really sure why.

Aunty Chris is sometimes required during busy periods to help out in the conference and events department during busy periods and needless to say, charming as she is, she finds it quite easy to build up a rapport with some of our regular clients.

2 weeks ago for example we had a phone call from John... I’ll call him “no balls” and see if you can guess his real name, anyway John “No Balls” is chairman of a company called “the federation of master builders” or as we call them, federation of master....

Anyway, this particular organisation have used us for a number of years now. They come in once every couple of months, about 6 of them all in their mid seventies at the youngest. They sit in the function room, have a drink and talk about.... well... builders I suppose, then go home to their armchairs and smoking jackets until the next time.

So when the chairman called a few weeks ago to book the meetings for this year, aunty chris spoke to him, took the details and then came down to reception to share the details of the conversation.

“Well” she said as she burst through the door to the back office where the boss was sitting, handwriting a letter that we already had saved a template on the computer

“I’ve just spoke to the chairman of the federation of master builders”

“Right”

“And it turns out that they’re cutting the meetings down to 2, maybe 3 meetings a year”

“How come?”

“Well John says that it’s just because they’ve all got other commitments what with metal knees and hips and what not. So I just told him”

“Told him what?” The boss asked as he lowered his glasses, speaking in a tone which suggested he didn’t really want to know

“Well I just told him they ought to just pack it in now! I said oooh you’re all getting on it’s time to just forget it and have a bit a rest”

Needless to say the boss did not agree with Aunty Chris’s thoughts on this matter. Like I said before just different people, different ideas on what the hotel needs to keep functioning. The following day the boss put an advert in the job centre for an events co-ordinator and from now on, Aunty Chris’s services in that department, are no longer required.

I love my Aunty Chris I think more than she probably realises. I love how she goes into the kitchen smack bang in the middle of service to ask chef what he’s doing for her lunch. I love how she comes down and sits at the bosses desk in the back office to do something completely irrelevant on his computer when he gets up to make himself a coffee. I love how it takes her 10 minutes to explain something that (A) should take 2 minutes, and (B) I already knew in the first place and most all I love how even when I’m having the worst of days, her eccentricities and comical outbursts, always manage to make me smile.

So there’s my “shout out” to my wonderful Aunty Chris, another year older, another year wiser.

Thanks for everything Aunty Chris. 60 and fabulous! Keep up the good work!