Hotel Confession Poem by Edgar Eslit

Netherlands

Manila,

Paris, and

Iligan.

One time, a guest watched me clean her entire room,

I made the scrubbing on the toilet to emptying the trash

—and told me at the end that I was 'building character.'

Well, complement is not nearly as encouraging to a humble worker as a couple of dollars doled.

Chuckles. Sorry, I apologize to you now if you ever stayed in one of my assigned rooms.

You deserved better, I know!

But if room keepers were paid more than the minimum wage

—and the tips were a bit bigger

—I might have cleaned your toilet rather than just had it flushed twice.

Surprisingly, I didn't realize that hotel workers received tips left on the table inside the room,

So, it took me weeks to realize that the coins left in my rooms were an intentional tip.

My tips were paltry, so to say: I almost never received more than a dollar a month,

And, at times, guests left religious souvenirs (probably not on purpose) .

But then, one day, however, I was shocked to find a crisp £100 bill lying on the table.

Wow! But then, it’s good to realize, still,

Success is the child of hard labor.