2013-04-05

Hotel Soap Joke - Friday Afternoon Literature -

This is not a joke.
It's actual correspondence between a London hotel staff and one of its guests. The hotel submitted this to the Sunday Times. No name was mentioned.

This is perfect for a Friday afternoon.

WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THOSE ''FREE'' SOAPS WHEN TRAVELLING
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maid,

Please do not leave any more of those little bars of soap in my bathroom since I have brought my own bath-sized Dial. Please remove the six unopened little bars from the shelf under the medicine chest and another three in the shower soap dish. They are in my way. Thank you,

S. Berman

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Room 635,

I am not your regular maid. She will be back tomorrow, Thursday, from her day off. I took the 3 hotel soaps out of the shower soap dish as you requested. The 6 bars on your shelf I took out of your way and put on top of your Kleenex dispenser in case you should change your mind. This leaves only the 3 bars I left today which my instructions from the management is to leave 3 soaps daily. I hope this is satisfactory.

Kathy, Relief Maid

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maid -- I hope you are my regular maid.

Apparently Kathy did not tell you about my note to her concerning the little bars of soap. When I got back to my room this evening I found you had added 3 little Camays to the shelf under my medicine cabinet. I am going to be here in the hotel for two weeks and have brought my own bath-size Dial so I won't need those 6 little Camays which are on the shelf. They are in my way when shaving, brushing teeth, etc. Please remove them.

S. Berman

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Berman,

My day off was last Wed. so the relief maid left 3 hotel soaps which we are instructed by the management. I took the 6 soaps which were in your way on the shelf and put them in the soap dish where your Dial was. I put the Dial in the medicine cabinet for your convenience. I didn't remove the 3 complimentary soaps which are always placed inside the medicine cabinet for all new check-ins and which you did not object to when you checked in last Monday. Please let me know if I can of further assistance.

Your regular maid,
Dotty

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Berman,
The assistant manager, Mr. Kensedder, informed me this A.M. that you called him last evening and said you were unhappy with your maid service. I have assigned a new girl to your room. I hope you will accept my apologies for any past inconvenience. If you have any future complaints please contact me so I can give it my personal attention. Call extension 1108 between 8AM and 5PM. Thank you.

Elaine Carmen
Housekeeper

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Miss Carmen,

It is impossible to contact you by phone since I leave the hotel for business at 745 AM and don't get back before 530 OR 6PM. That's the reason I called Mr. Kensedder last night. You were already off duty. I only asked Mr. Kensedder if he could do anything about those little bars of soap. The new maid you assigned me must have thought I was a new check-in today, since she left another 3 bars of hotel soap in my medicine cabinet along with her regular delivery of 3 bars on the bath-room shelf. In just 5 days here I have accumulated 24 little bars of soap. Why are you doing this to me?

S. Berman

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Berman,

Your maid, Kathy, has been instructed to stop delivering soap to your room and remove the extra soaps. If I can be of further assistance, please call extension 1108 between 8AM and 5PM. Thank you,

Elaine Carmen,
Housekeeper

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Kensedder,

My bath-size Dial is missing. Every bar of soap was taken from my room including my own bath-size Dial. I came in late last night and had to call the bellhop to bring me 4 little Cashmere Bouquets.

S. Berman

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Berman,

I have informed our housekeeper, Elaine Carmen, of your soap problem. I cannot understand why there was no soap in your room, since our maids are instructed to leave 3 bars of soap each time they service a room. The situation will be rectified immediately. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience.

Martin L. Kensedder
Assistant Manager

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mrs. Carmen,

Who the heck left 54 little bars of Camay in my room? I came in last night and found 54 little bars of soap. I don't want 54 little bars of Camay. I want my one bar of bath-size Dial. Do you realize I have 54 bars of soap in here. All I want is my bath size Dial. Please give me back my bath-size Dial.

S. Berman

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Berman,

You complained of too much soap in your room so I had them removed. Then you complained to Mr. Kensedder that all your soap was missing so I personally returned them. The 24 Camays which had been taken and the 3 Camays you are supposed to receive daily (sic). I don't know anything about the 4 Cashmere Bouquets. Obviously your maid, Kathy, did not know I had returned your soaps so she also brought 24 Camays plus the 3 daily Camays. I don't know where you got the idea this hotel issues bath-size Dial. I was able to locate some bath-size Ivory which I left in your room.

Elaine Carmen
Housekeeper

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mrs. Carmen,

Just a short note to bring you up-to-date on my latest soap inventory.

As of today I possess:


  • On shelf under medicine cabinet - 18 Camay in 4 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 2.
  • On Kleenex dispenser - 11 Camay in 2 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 3.
  • On bedroom dresser - 1 stack of 3 Cashmere Bouquet, 1stack of 4 hotel-size Ivory, and 8 Camay in 2 stacks of 4.
  • Inside medicine cabinet - 14 Camay in 3 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 2.
  • In shower soap dish - 6 Camay, very moist.
  • On northeast corner of tub - 1 Cashmere Bouquet, slightly used.
  • On northwest corner of tub - 6 Camays in 2 stacks of 3.


Please ask Kathy when she services my room to make sure the stacks are neatly piled and dusted. Also, please advise her that stacks of more than 4 have a tendency to tip. May I suggest that my bedroom window sill is not in use and will make an excellent spot for future soap deliveries. One more item, I have purchased another bar of bath-sized Dial which I am keeping in the hotel vault in order to avoid further misunderstandings.

S. Berman

2013-04-03

Thinking of YU


Quebec English-language premiere!
IMAGO Theatre
Presents
Thinking of YU
Written by Carole Fréchette Translated by John Murrell
Directed by Micheline Chevrier

Mark these dates in your spring calendar

Wednesday, April 24 – Sunday, May 5, 2013

Thinking of YU is a play about one woman’s fixation with Yu Dongyue, a young Chinese journalist who was imprisoned for 17 years for having thrown paint on a poster of Mao during the Tiananmen Square student protests. Her obsessive research is interrupted by a lonely single father who mistakenly received her mail and a young Chinese woman who desperately wants to perfect her English grammar. Their unexpected companionship prompts each of them to question the consequences of fighting against injustice. Each comes to grips with their relationship to the world as they wrestle with notions of bravery, change and hope.

With Shiong-En Chan, Danielle Desormeaux and Kwasi Songui
Thinking of YU
Imago Theatre
At Centaur Theatre
453 St. François-Xavier April 24-May 5
Wednesday to Saturday at 8:30 pm, Saturday and Sunday matinee at 2:30pm
Tickets: $20-$25
All tickets for the preview, Wed. April 24, are $18
Saturday matinee, April 27 and May 4 at 2:30pm, are pay-what-you-can (Suggested donation $10)
Tickets: 514 288-3162 or online: http://www.centaurtheatre.com/tickets.php
ServicesMontreal.comSince 2002 ServicesMontreal.com
March 8 International Women's Day
Cinema

Books, CDs,DVDs

English Articles

2013-03-21

Children's Picture Books

Les trésors de M. Monsieur
by Geneviève Côté
Today I'd like to suggest two new picture books, one in English and one in French.
Les trésors de M. Monsieur
Written and illustrated by GG Award winner Geneviève Côté this book is about overbuying and recycling. A good story about a boy who always wanted new things and discarded them a little too fast down the lake where he later went fishing.

Howard B. Wigglebottom Listens to His Heart
This kid rabbit loves to dance. But then one day he got laughed at, and so he then tried to please everyone without success. Luckily his grandfather was there for him. This book ends with two pages of extensive discussion on the subjects of self-esteem and book story related fields. Great after reading.

Find these books and more at Scholastic.
UNE MER DE CHAGRIN, Coll. Cher Journal 

2013-03-03

Donate a Tweet TODAY

Tomorrow, March 4th, the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (#CSW57) opens at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. It will convene governments, activists, media and private sector partners from around the world to discuss how to prevent violence against women and girls and improve services for survivors everywhere. We are excited about the momentum and opportunity that CSW57 brings!  Are you?

Make some noise leading up to CSW57! Join this Thunderclap to tweet in ONE voiceand demand an end to violence against women and girls.

Share it on Facebook

Female Phobia : femmophobie.com

Dites NON aux VIOLENCES faites aux FEMMES
Say NO to VAW


2013-02-14

Say NO to VAW

Up to 7 in 10 women will be beaten, raped, abused or mutilated in their lifetime. Violence against women and girls is the most pervasive human rights violation, but it’s not inevitable. It can be prevented through education and awareness, reduced through better laws and services, and ultimately eliminated.
It is time to act. People are rising, mobilizing everywhere, and governments are committing to improve laws and policies. From 4 – 15 March, the United Nations is convening governments and activists from around the world to discuss strategies to end violence against women and girls at the 57th Commission on the Status of Women.
Harness the momentum with us. Tell everyone you know that they can be part of a global movement to end violence against women.
Donate this tweet before 4 March. CLICK HERE


ServicesMontreal.comSince 2002 ServicesMontreal.com
March 8 International Women's Day
Female Phobia
English Articles

2013-01-08

Gang Rape in India

A moving story about a woman now 49 reflects on her gang rape experience in India when she was 17. If you read one article, read this one:

How will a teenager participate in the prosecution of her rapist if her family isn’t behind her? How will a wife charge her assailant if her husband thinks the attack was more of an affront to him than a violation of her?
We have spent generations constructing elaborate systems of patriarchy, caste and social and sexual inequality that allow abuse to flourish. But rape is not inevitable, like the weather.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/08/opinion/after-being-raped-i-was-wounded-my-honor-wasnt.html?_r=1& 

Siminal point of view from another Indian woman on Facebook  

The A Team


Self-explanatory song and video called The A Team
by Ed Sheeran