Joined
·
30,667 Posts
Many years ago, on a stormy night, to get rid out of the rain, an elderly man and his wife entered a small hotel in Philadelphia. They approached the front desk hoping to get some shelter for the night.
"Could you possibly give us a room here?" the husband asked. The clerk, a friendly man with a winning smile said, "All of our rooms are taken". But I can't send a nice couple like you out into the rain at 1 o' clock in the morning. Would you be willing to stay in my room although it is not an exactly a suite, but it will be quite good enough to make you comfortable for the night."
When the couple turned down, the young man continued. "Don't worry about me; I'll make out just fine," the clerk told them. So the couple agreed. As he paid his bill the next morning, the elderly man said to the clerk, "You are the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best hotel in the United States. Maybe someday I'll build one for you." They all had a good time and the couples left the hotel.
Two years passed. The clerk had roughly forgotten the incident when he received a letter from the old man for a meet. The old man met him in New York and led him to the corner of a street. He then pointed to a great new beautiful building, a palace of reddish stone thrusting up to the sky.
"That is the hotel I have just built for you to manage." said the older man. His name was William Waldorf Astor (an American-British financier), and the magnificent structure was the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The young clerk who became its first manager was George C. Boldt.
"Could you possibly give us a room here?" the husband asked. The clerk, a friendly man with a winning smile said, "All of our rooms are taken". But I can't send a nice couple like you out into the rain at 1 o' clock in the morning. Would you be willing to stay in my room although it is not an exactly a suite, but it will be quite good enough to make you comfortable for the night."
When the couple turned down, the young man continued. "Don't worry about me; I'll make out just fine," the clerk told them. So the couple agreed. As he paid his bill the next morning, the elderly man said to the clerk, "You are the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best hotel in the United States. Maybe someday I'll build one for you." They all had a good time and the couples left the hotel.
Two years passed. The clerk had roughly forgotten the incident when he received a letter from the old man for a meet. The old man met him in New York and led him to the corner of a street. He then pointed to a great new beautiful building, a palace of reddish stone thrusting up to the sky.
"That is the hotel I have just built for you to manage." said the older man. His name was William Waldorf Astor (an American-British financier), and the magnificent structure was the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The young clerk who became its first manager was George C. Boldt.
