just for michelle . . .

. . as soon as we arrived in town in 1974, I started working for Holiday Inn again: on the front desk. The hotel staff was mainly college-age kids and ownership and management was all one family with kids our age so things were pretty loose and we had a lot of fun on the job. Practical jokes were rampant. One morning, I snagged my last pair of pantyhose on the way into work. Already running late, I ran into Pic n Save, grabbed a new pair, dashed back into the car and running full speed through the main lobby, veered off into the ladies room to do my quick change artist routine. There to my complete surprise was a rather rotund, rather disheveled, completely naked lady, calmly washing her feet in the sink. In a panic, knowing I was late and completely unsettled by the sight, I dashed into the nearest cubicle, locked it securely and calmly freaking out, changed my stockings. Hearing no more running water, I bent down to see where her feet were now. No feet. A-ha, she must have left. I pop out of concealment only to find her sitting cross legged - still naked, mind you - on the sink counter staring quizzically at me as if I am the one off balance. Well, maybe I was. But she was slow and I was fast, and out the door I flew. Two steps out, I am greeted by gales of laughter from most of the staff, aligned at various vantage points around the lobby. How had I missed them on the way in???? Even the GM was rolling. It seems the woman in question had wandered in through the front doors hours earlier, carrying her belongings in brown paper wrapped with twine, in her birthday suit. The night auditor, too amazed or maybe too nonchalant to say anything, merely watched her meander into the powder room, figuring at some point, someone other than he would handle the situation. Of course, this was too good to keep to himself and he happily shared the event with the staff. Being off season, he could get away with this. Apparently they, knowing it was almost 7:00 a.m., and that I was soon to arrive, had plans to herd ME into the lion's den to face the woman in question. Remember, I not only headed straight for the bathroom, to their utter delight, I ran directly into it. If looks could kill, there would have been a massacre that morning. As it was, she appeared shortly thereafter, fully clothed, and departed from whence she had come. Never to be seen again.