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by Todd Tannehill

It has been a bit since I posted, but the current covid19 situation has me thinking.  Karma is a funny thing and it hits you when you least expect.  Last night I was thinking about a friend and started laughing in bed.  My friend, I will call him Bob because that is his name and this is a blog, not the witness protection program.  He has no idea that the things he told me were actually retained.

Bob retired from our company after 48-years; unheard of these days.  A good many of those years he worked on the road and the man packed his own pillow for every trip!  I am pretty sure there were some jokes along the way, but I digress.

When the rest of us were packing as lite as possible and trying not to check bags, he packed a bed pillow.  Had I told you that in December 2019 you would have, like me, laughed.  “What is he - paranoid?”  In fact, he was ahead of his time and smarter than the rest of us.

Today, as I end week six of sheltering in place, I am thinking; “I should not have laughed at Bob.”  So in honor of him I am writing this blog post with some helpful tips for Road Warriors.  Only one of these is from Bob, but to make amends I will start with the pillow thing.

5 New Rules of Travel (Hotel Edition):

#1 Bring your own bed pillow.  

You need to assume that 8-12 hours before you checked-in to that hotel, a fat, unshaven, wife-beater-wear ‘in, snot nosed guest was drooling and slobbering all over the hotel pillow.  The pillowcase was changed but the secret sauce remains!  (Let your mind get a good picture)    Rule #1 is no longer negotiable and we all “should listen to Bob.”  Also if your stay is longer than 1 night; put the pillow back in your suitcase before the maids make up the room. 

#2 Never let the maids make up the room.  

Ask for extra towels when you arrive. 

#3 Mark your travel pillowcase with “This side down.”  

This is my addition to rule #1.  Mark the case so you know which side goes toward the bed and which side is for the head.  I switch hotels a lot in a week of travel.  It will be good to know which side is which when unpacking at a new location.  Bringing 2-3 pillowcases would be optimal.  You should also have special pillowcase colors so you don’t mix up the hotel pillows with your special friend. 

#4 TV remote goes in a Ziplock bag.  

Drop that germ-infested thing in a clear Ziplock and use it like Grandma’s plastic wrapped couch!  Nothing else needed here, just do it. 

#5 Do not forget the Lysol wipes.  

This goes without saying.  Wipe down the desk, nightstand, headboard, chair, door handles, and the entire bathroom.  Use a bunch – the maid didn’t.

I likely missed something here and welcome your comments.  As we come into May 2020 many states are thinking about opening and lifting restrictions.  Sales folks need to travel and the fact that we will return to the road is inevitable.  While the 5 New Rules of Travel may sound paranoid, they are all smart.  Social Distancing, masks, and now cleaning your own hotel room are all part of the “new normal” for travel.  Oh how I long for the day when all we had to worry about was the Bed Bugs!

That is what's on my mind today – leave me a comment and tell me your worst hotel horror story.  

-Todd

P.S.  I recommend https://www.mypillow.com/  (Tell Mike Lindell he should sponsor my blog!)

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It has been awhile since my last post, I hope this finds you well.

This week, while traveling in NJ, a panhandler approached with a handwritten cardboard sign.  While he was at the window of another car, I read the sign; “money for food” is all it said.  He wore dirty clothes and his unwashed hair was a mess, but he still relentlessly went car to car at the red light.

Picture Credit: https://globalnews.ca/

I took an informal count and about every fifth car gave him coins.  The car in front of me gave him a dollar bill.  His pitch to close ratio was 5:1.  If he was in sales this would be an awesome close ratio and I couldn’t help wondering how his stars could change if he was putting this energy into selling a product or service.  A commission guy with this tenacity and persistence could write his own ticket in the right industry.

Before you ask, the light changed, and he never made it to my car.  That’s all this week – just observations from my windshield.

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