Awkward Situations: Is breakfast included?

Eros- the God of love. Also known as Cupid. Believed by many to be the son of Aphrodite. "He smites maids' breasts with unknown heat, and bids the very gods to leave heaven and dwell on earth in borrowed forms." --Senceca, Phaedra





Schwarzarbeit- Literally translated it means "black work" as in under the table and off the books. It's what we see illegal immigrants doing.




You might be asking yourself, what do these two things have in common? Well you've come to the right place. And if you're wondering, no, it doesn't involve prostitution. Well, at least not me being a prostitute, just an unsuspecting madame. Something I never really assumed I'd be doing in my life.

In class the other day we were talking about interviews and resumes and I feel in some ways if someone ever asked me if I've ever been part of a start up business, then well, technically, I could probably say yes.

When I first moved to Saarbrücken, I had an apartment set up. I arrived August 4th and could move in on the 6th, so I decided to stay in a hotel for two days. I didn't have that much money, so I stayed in the cheapest hotel I could find at the time. It wasn't super shady, just a small hotel near the train station and I was only going to be there for 2 days.

When I arrived on the first day, I got a message from the people who's apartment I was moving into and they said, "Sorry! Our old roommate decided to stay so......"

....so basically, I didn't have a place to stay. At first, I thought, oh my God, I'm homeless, but I didn't dwell on it too long and immediately started the search for another apartment. The guy who ran the hotel was actually the son of the owner and he was probably in his 20s. I was explaining my dilemma, and he said, well if you want, I want to learn English. So how about you teach me English for two hours every day and I'll let you stay here for free. I figured, um OK.

Sloth! Rocky Road.

Staying there for a week and talking to the owner I also got to know some of the people who worked there. The people who worked there were, bless their hearts, special. One of the ladies who worked in the kitchen I can only describe as a 400lb chain smoking version of Sloth from The Goonies. Let's just say there's a reason she stayed in the kitchen. There was the guy who fixed broken stuff around the hotel, the maid, and another man. To this day I'm still not sure what his job was. The only person who didn't creep me out was the young Romanian girl who served the breakfast.


So despite the people there being a bit creepy, at least according to my white, middle class, rather sheltered upbringing, after about a week I finally found another place to live and decided to move into it ASAP.

Story of my life.

It was around this time I was supposed to start my training for my job. The training was supposed to take place in Stuttgart for two weeks and as soon as it was done I could start working and earning money in September. I moved my stuff into my new place and went to meet with my supervisor who informed me that apparently the training was full and I'd have to wait until the training in mid September, therefore, technically, I wouldn't start working and earning money until October. So now I had a month to do nothing but spend money...financially, I had not counted on that.

Well, I had maintained contact with the owner of the hotel and was still giving him English lessons. I mentioned my predicament. He said that the girl who served breakfast was going on vacation for two weeks and he needed help. If I wanted, he would let me serve the breakfast and work the front desk and he'd pay me. Not a lot, but something. I figured why not, it'd be an adventure, and frankly didn't have much of a choice.

The next week I started. Serving the breakfast was fine. I just had to boil some eggs, set out some meat, make coffee and tea. Easy stuff. What I was afraid of was working the front desk. I had no idea what I was doing and didn't have much guidance, but I consider myself to be a quick learner and got the hang of it after about a day. Again, it was a small hotel, with obviously questionable business practices, but whatever.

One night in the middle of the first week, when I was working the front desk, a man came in with a woman. He wanted a room. I said no problem. Then I asked if he would like breakfast in the morning. He looked at me funny and was like, "Um no. We'll only be here a few hours". I looked at the woman. She smiled and shrugged. Honestly, remember I was sheltered, it took me a second to figure out the meaning behind it. Are they just there to take a nap? Suddenly, one of the other guys who repaired things around the hotel appeared rather quickly and greeted the man and offered him drinks. The man declined and I gave them their key.

The man who worked there told me it was possible others would come and just charge them full price for the room and offer them beverages. Make a note of the rooms so the sheets could be changed right away.

OH.

Sure enough, as the week on, usually in the mid afternoons, men would come with women. One afternoon this man showed up with two women.  He asked for a room. I asked if he wanted a double or single. His reply, "Doesn't matter as long as it has a desk."

I said, "Alrighty. All rooms have a desk. They aren't very stable though..."

After those two weeks were over I didn't really have contact with the hotel anymore. I would like to mention there were also many regular people who stayed at the hotel. Usually, people on bike tours and older couples stayed there. But interestingly, or maybe fittingly, since last year, it is no longer a hotel, but a bright neon light flashing Eros Center.

So, in some ways I can say my first job in Saarbrücken was working at an underground brothel. Check that one off the list.