Satchel Smith’s eight hour shift turned in a marathon 32-hour effort at a Homewood Suites in Beaumont, Texas. By the time his shift had ended, he was hailed a hero for single-handedly caring for so many hotel guests.
Tropical Storm Imelda was passing thru, bringing torrential rains and area flooding. Smith and 90 guests at the property found themselves trapped.
Due to the storm, Smith’s colleagues were unable to join him, forcing him to be a jack-of-all-trades.
One guest, Angela Chandler, wrote on Facebook:
He has manned the phones, answered each of our questions, ensured that we have had a hot cup of coffee or tea, and helped serve us a hot breakfast. He has handled this situation with grace, kindness, and a beautiful smile on his face.
That’s not all he did. He also took on maintenance, housekeeping, and chef duties. Using ingredients in the kitchen, Chandler prepared dinner for all the hotel guests: pasta with chicken and garlic bread. Everyone gathered around to eat together, thankful for the unexpected friendships that had already formed and were forming.
But Smith’s selflessness did not end inside the confines of the hotel. Noticing that many truckers were trapped outside due to closed roads, Smith and other guests stepped into the storm to distribute water and food to stranded motorists.
After working nonstop from Wednesday afternoon to Friday morning, one of Smith’s colleagues finally made it to the hotel. Smith took a well-deserved nap, but then sprang right back to work…it still wasn’t safe to drive outside.
CONCLUSION
I love stories like this. Kudos to Smith and what a beautiful story of how an unlikely group of hotel guests came together to become friends and even help those in greater need.
image: Angela Chandler / Facebook
Awesome story! Thank you for sharing it, Matthew.
Thank you for sharing!! A very warm story and gives hope in humanity that caring, selfless and courageous humans do indeed still exist in our current society!
Adversity brings people together. Normalness brings out the worst in us.
This is why i advocate confiscating all the wealth of people with assets more than o.5 million. The shared trauma will bring everyone closer and help build people’s character.
They would want to apply major trauma to your head.
As for this young man, Hilton should buy him a new car. It would rightly reward him, and would be good PR for Hilton.
Simmer down over there, Karl…
“This is why i advocate confiscating all the wealth of people with assets more than o.5 million.”
Sorry debit, but you don’t get to make the rules. Hope you get banned here too.