In the Spotlight

Tuesday night

I was on a combined work trip/beach vacation. As I walked through the lobby of my hotel, I stopped at the front desk to speak to a friendly older woman who worked there. I'd seen her several times over the past few days, and we'd developed a friendly rapport. For some reason, on this occasion I felt compelled to hoist my suitcase on top of the counter and show her what was inside. She noticed that I'd bought some new ties for my business meetings; the sales tags were still attached. There were also three colorful towels near the top of my kit that belonged to the hotel. I said, "I'll be returning these before I leave."

At that point her manager, a short, thin guy with a white shirt and black pants, overheard our conversation and decided that it would make a good commercial spot. He began filming us with a large hand-held movie camera. He must have stopped filming at some point because the next thing I knew, he was talking to me about my credit card. He said, "Since this is a holiday, we can't run your card through the machine (and can't prepare your invoice) but if you'll sign here, we'll run it later." I was suspicious, and not thrilled to sign what amounted to a blank check. It was a good thing for him that he turned off the camera when he did.

*****

I guess the beach is still on my mind. Many of my coworkers are on vacation this week.

But what is the significance of the suitcase? Does it mean that I'm carrying guilt? Maybe it's nothing more than towels and ties.

Then again, maybe I'm telling myself that I'm too hasty to open my personal life to strangers -- which, of course, I'm doing right now...