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DFW

(54,047 posts)
Mon Sep 12, 2022, 04:40 AM Sep 2022

Count on Vitamin C and some old folk wisdom to save my ass

There is a hotel in Sprout City I often stay at when I'm on the way back home from Paris, but have things to do in Belgium as well. About 15 years ago, I got authorization from my head office to spring for a hotel in Brussels rather than come all the way back here to Düsseldorf, and the then get up at 5 AM the next day to turn right around and make the 4 hour trip back to Brussels.

The trouble is, the dollar is very strong against the Euro at the moment, and American tourists are flooding Europe these days to take advantage of that. I tried to book a room at my usual hotel for the middle of the week, but their website said they were completely full, no rooms available. There are other places to stay in Brussels, of course, but this one is right at a métro stop on a line that goes directly to both major train stations, and is near the offices I work with in town. It has good security, and I know most of the people who work there. They know me, too, and I can speak to just about all of them in their native languages. I stay there so often, I get a lot of upgrades and breakfast buffets for which they don't charge me. If I HAVE to, I could look for someplace else, or make the trip all the way back home from Paris, and then go back to Sprout City the next morning. I didn't mind doing that 30 years ago, but the mileage and the years are adding up. Besides, with the ever-increasing price of train travel, I don't save much, if anything, by doing that any more.

Since I DO know most of the staff there, I sent an SOS email to one of the guys I know who works there, one of two genuine native Belgians (out of a staff of maybe 35), and asked for a miracle--for him to check with reservations and find me a room in case of a cancellation or one being held in reserve "just in case." Some hotels keep a room in reserve just for such situations. Their reservation computer never knows about them, and therefore can never offer them. Only an email or a phone call with "hi, it's me" can reserve those rooms.

I just got back an email this morning. It said miracles are their specialty, my miracle has been granted, and I have a room waiting for me when I get there.

A Jewish friend of mine once told me (and I have no idea if it's true or not) that David Ben Gurion once said that "he who does not believe in miracles is not a realist." This morning, you can consider me at least a temporary convert to realism.

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DFW

(54,047 posts)
3. Thanks! That makes two of us.
Mon Sep 12, 2022, 06:22 AM
Sep 2022

I have other things to do than telephone around to places I am not familiar with, and can't readily find in the twilight. I will if I have to, but I'm not a travel agent.

DFW

(54,047 posts)
4. If I can grab a sandwich for dinner in Paris before heading to Belgium, I'll be happy
Mon Sep 12, 2022, 06:24 AM
Sep 2022

I don't have a lot of time to really enjoy the surroundings. This is my day job.

DFW

(54,047 posts)
8. It helps that I know and like the manager.
Mon Sep 12, 2022, 07:29 AM
Sep 2022

She, in turn is always happy to have an American with whom she can converse in Flemish. It works out.

Jack the Greater

(601 posts)
10. I fail to see how "Vitamin C and some old folk wisdom" comes into play in this narrative
Mon Sep 12, 2022, 10:04 AM
Sep 2022

... and I read it three times.

DFW

(54,047 posts)
11. I'm sorry to hear you're having such difficulty
Mon Sep 12, 2022, 10:29 AM
Sep 2022

"Vitamin C" in the political world and business world is a euphemism for "Connections." In Germany, the same expression is used, but is called "Vitamin B" since what we call "connections" in English is translated as "Beziehungen" in German.

Ben Gurion's quip about miracles refers to my request for a miracle in finding a reservation where the hotel's site said there were none to be had. I had asked my connection at the hotel to perform a "miracle" in order to find me a room where none were supposed to be available. He did just that, thus reinforcing Ben Gurion's quip implying that true realists believe in miracles, because they happen. I didn't ask him to turn water into wine, but since I don't like the taste of wine, no one would be likely to tell me about it if he did, and to me, it wouldn't be a very useful miracle in the first place.

highplainsdem

(48,718 posts)
12. I'm familiar with the euphemism, DFW, but I just did some googling to try to find a
Mon Sep 12, 2022, 12:08 PM
Sep 2022

dictionary source to cite...and I couldn't find any, which really shocked me. Not even the Urban Dictionary had that meaning of vitamin C.

I will admit that although I've heard the euphemism, it isn't one I use myself. When I say anything about vitamin C, it is about the vitamin, and my first thought when I saw your subject line was that you'd been ill but were now feeling better.

As for the connection that got you that desperately needed room... I'd call that a well-earned dividend for your investments in friendships and learning other languages. Sometimes the word connections is used in a disparaging sense, by people who don't have similar connections and envy them, or who think the connections aren't earned. But in most cases connections don't just happen. People who are adept at getting along with others will have more connections.

As for whether it was a miracle that there was a room for you... Well, I believe miracles can happen, and there's rarely any reason not to try to make one possible.

Kudos on getting that room!

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