Wendell

Wendell is a young man who always hopes for the best.

WENDELL

 

Just before Wendell was born his mother decided that: one, he was a boy; and two, he would be called Wendell, after an old film star she had seen in all kinds of films when she was a child. For Wanda, Wendell’s arrival in her life was a plus. His father, Stanley, Wanda’s husband, wasn’t so sure, didn’t relish being a father.

Wendell was a good boy, and lived up to his name. He worked hard, and played hard. During his school days, his friends were Roger, Howard, Derek, and Bruce. Wendell was the leader, because there was no one else who could think of anything else better to do.

 

On leaving school, the boys went their separate ways, and Wendell thought he’d like to work in tourism, like in the Mediterranean or in the Caribbean. At the beginning he worked in England, principally in Devon and in Cornwall.

 

He was gradually promoted, till he became the Holiday Representative, whose job is to ensure that the guests enjoy their holiday, and that everything runs smoothly for them, such as: meeting guests at the airport, organizing excursion and other activities, and even such issues as: lost luggage or passports; allegations of theft or other crimes; problems with rooms; health problems; injuries; and even deaths.

 

One morning when the sun was at the point of reaching its zenith, Wendell heard a great hullabaloo from the swimming pool area. He ran out, and found something rather nasty. Floating on the surface there was a big ‘poo’. It was obviously not human, by its size. Wendell ordered the pool area to be closed off, and sanitary workers to be called in to clean up the mess.

That was a Wednesday, and when Wendell spoke to the manager, he said it would be a good idea to put the pool out of bounds till the new group of tourists arrived on Saturday evening.

“That’s a good idea. By that time, all of those here will have gone home,” the manager responded.

 

The pool was closed off for the following three days, to be disinfected. People complained, but Wendell told them, “Someone here had a dog, and we can’t risk other people’s health.”

 

On Saturday morning, one group departed, and the new group arrived. Wendell went over the whole hotel, to make sure that everything was clean and disinfected. When he had made his round, and went and reported to the manager.

“Sir. Isn’t there a paragraph in our brochure saying - NO DOGS ARE ALOWED IN THE HOTEL?” he asked

“Yes, Wendell, there is. But you wouldn’t believe what dog owner’s are capable of doing, to get their ‘poochies’ into their room,” the manager explained.

Wendell left, and went to make sure that everything was as it should be.

 

A few days later, there was another scandal, when a child was caught doing a ‘poo’ in the pool. Wendell was called in to take over. He packed the mother and her guilty child off to the hotel infirmary. They were both suffering from novovirus.

The mother was berated heartily by the doctor, who asked, “Didn’t you realize that    both of you were ill before leaving home?”

The mother replied, “I thought it would pass over.”

 

The sad pair spent the rest of their holiday in a hospital. The other guests had to walk to the nearest beach with towel, bucket and spade.

 

That was the second week of August, and the pool remained closed.

 

It was opened again. This time, exclusively for a group of old-aged pensioners.

 

Wendell was disheartened, and went to Denmark for a break, where he could sit by the sea, where no dirty dogs or dirty children were to be seen.