Hotel Hell

by Donna Swagerty Shreve

Brad, my youngest son, went to the University of California at Santa Cruz for all four years of college and he graduated on time. During his time in college, he worked several jobs to help pay for his room, board and tuition. Two of his years were spent being a resident assistant in the dormitories. To qualify each year as a resident assistant, the applicants had to pass scrutiny after a week of training culminated with Hotel Hell.

In 1997, Brad had had a week of training and now it was time for the final test to make sure each RA could handle any situation. Various students had been recruited to simulate various scenarios. The potential RAs were put into groups of three and were accompanied by a  staff member with a clipboard for notes and evaluations.

In Brad’s group, one of the applicants volunteered to be the lead first. The other two members acted as a backup team. The first situation involved two feuding roommates. The complaining roommate was upset because the second roommate was limiting the time the first roommate had access to their shared room. It seems the second roommate spent a lot of time in the shared room having sex with his girl friend. The RA in training had to negotiate a solution that could be reasonable and acceptable by both parties. Finding the solution, the first test was successfully completed.

The second scenario involved a suicidal student. It had been reported that the student had a bunch of pills and had either taken them or was planning to. Brad saw who the actress was for simulation and bowed out as the lead. He explained that he had recently broken off his relationship with her. He would not be in a good spot to talk her out of a suicide but may encourage it. The second lead was able to find the pills under her pillow. Now there was one more test.

Brad had no options left. He was now the lead. This time they were directed to a dorm bathroom. As they entered the bathroom, Brad noticed a pile of dirty ragged clothes by the sinks.In one of the stalls he heard simulated urinating. Brad went to the door of the stall and informed the person he/she would need to retrieve their clothes and exit the dorm. A female voice yelled back, in a hostile voice, that she should be allowed to pee in peace. Brad used the technique known as the tape recorder and he repeated his request that if she didn’t leave right away, he would call security.

Then she opened the stall door and stared at Brad. What made this so dramatic was the fact that Kate, the student actress, was stark naked. Brad maintained his composure and stared at her eyes and repeated his demand. When her last stunt didn’t rattle Brad, she gathered the clothes and left the bathroom. Homeless people try to use the dorm’s facilities on occasion and the RAs needed a strategy to solve this awkward situation. 

Brad’s team passed Hotel Hell and now the RAs had to come up with monthly activities to use to help the students on their floors have a better feeling of belonging with fun. bonding activities. A list was being complied and each activity had to be approved by the administration. One suggestion was a hot tub party at the local establishment called Teva. Teva had a variety of sizes from tubs for two to tubs for a large group.

The administration had problems with the Teva suggestion. One of their objections was possibly putting pressure on freshmen to feel they needed to be naked to join the party. Several RAs argued that nude hot tubing was not to be a requirement and there would be no pressure. Other arguments were also used and finally the administration gave in.

The eighteen RAs felt they deserved a celebration for their victory of passing Hotel Hell and finally getting approval for their dorm activities. They decided they would all meet at Teva the next night and someone reserved the large tub to accommodate the celebration.

Brad now had a dilemma. He was not comfortable with naked hot tubing. Did he really have to get into the tub minus all items of clothing? He went to a fellow RA to get her advice. Who did he choose? Kate, yes, the same Kate who could become naked without such hesitation. Her advice was to do what was comfortable for him.

He had quite a chat with himself and after much inner turmoil, decided he could be a good sport and go minus bathing suit. Kate picked him up as she had a car. They arrived and went to their separate locker rooms. Brad disrobed and went to the group tub wrapped in a towel. When he got there he realized only two of the eighteen RAs were not in swimsuits. He should have known that the one, guess, would be Kate. Now he had the chore of getting into the community tub with as much dignity as he could muster. When he had submerged his body he muttered, “Bastards!” Rather quickly most of the other hot tub participants were flinging their suits out of the tub. What an amazing introduction Brad had to being a dorm resident assistant.

894 words

4/27/2015

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