Journals of a Hotel Manager

Thanks to Megan’s comment on my previous entry that I remembered a couple of similar stories.

I also heard about episodes that when a horrific traffic accident occurs on this island, which is almost on daily basis since it must have been a miracle that anyone got issued a driver’s license here, passers-by would throw money on the dying man instead of helping him.  In their eyes it’s better to donate some money to the family to help with the funeral rather than wasting the effort to assist a man who would clearly die anyhow.  The hospitals here are not well-known for their skills.

That brought me to another story that happened here some years ago.  A butcher in a hotel kitchen accidentally sliced his thumb off.  The Sous Chef on duty quickly picked up the severed digit and placed it in an ice box.  He sped to the largest hospital in a taxi with the bleeding butcher and the ice box.  The doctor looked at the poor man’s hand, and said that he could fix it but needed to get paid first for the surgery, which was not covered by the insurance for a common cook.

The two cooks in their kitchen whites of course didn’t bring enough money.  The Sous Chef showed the doctor the hotel logo on their uniforms and swore to get the money while the butcher got treated.  The doctor wouldn’t listen and cited it was the hospital’s policy.

The Sous Chef couldn’t possibly leave the bleeding comrade alone in the hospital or go back to the hotel with him while the wound deteriorated.  He called the hotel manager and the executive secretary was immediately dispatched with a wad of cash to the hospital.  She ran into a traffic jam due to an accident on the main road.  By the time she arrived at the hospital to hand over the money some hours later, the doctor said it was too late to sew the thumb back.

I wondered if the doctor would start the surgery immediately had the butcher been a Caucasian.