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Feb 26, 2006
jubilee part 1: the executive floor This weekend I was in Pittsburgh, PA for the Jubilee conference, a conference for college students sponsered by Coaltion for Christian Outreach, an organization that sponsers campus ministries in PA, WV, and Ohio. CCO is a partner with out campus ministry at UCC, hence our participation at Jubilee. The conference was truely amazing. A lot of it was hit and miss, but there was enough there to really challenge everyone involved. I had several amazing conversations with students about what was learned over the weekend, and I even found myself seeking out these conversations. So, over the next week or so, I'll be unpacking the conference here on the blog. But, for tonight, something a bit lighthearted: When we arrived, we found that there was some glitch with room assignments. So, we were not able to get our room before the first session started, and it looked as though there may be a chance that we would not even get a room, or may have to sleep on the floor in someone else's rooms (although we had a place in Pitt to crash if needed, so it wasn't a major crisis.) After the session, we found that some rooms were available, but we had to hurry and register for it as a group. So, Tommy, J-Little, and Dan D. were going to attempt to get a 4 person room (they were passing them out in pairs). As we got in line, we found out that to get a room, it was necessary to have a yellow card that they gave you at registration. Tommy and Justin had theirs, but Dan and I didn't, because Dan left his with his luggage and I hadn't registered yet (since I was parking one of the vans). So, after 15 minutes of drama, we got the second to last 4 person room. On the 24th (top) floor. It turns out, the 24th floor is the executive floor. I don't fully know what the implications of the executive floor are. I don't know how one normally gets placed there. I don't know all of the advantages. The rooms aren't any bigger or nicer. But, we did learn of 2 perks. One is that one of the consierge desks are on that floor. While I don't know everything a consierge does, I do know that there job is basically to take care of the rich people (we were staying at the Hilton). And, on the desk was a bowl of free mints. The second perk, we found out, was access to the executive lounge. We walked by the lounge when it was closed the first night, so we didn't really know what it was all about. But then, after lunch Saturday, it was revealed to us. The executive lounge, which you could only access with a 24th floor room key, was a place with some couches and tables. And a 50 inch flat panel TV. Free newspapers. Contenintal breakfast. Free appitizers at night. Free bottled water, coffee, and softdrinks. And a mini bar (which did cost money). All of that was truely great. However my favorite part is this: whenever we would go in there, the consierge would keep an eye on us. Why? See, they knew that we really weren't supposed to be there. It was just due to a glitch that we wound up on 24. However, since we were on 24, there was nothing they could do about it. But it was clear they didn't like it. We thought that it was funny. After all, that's all of the discrimination that we have to face. And it's over something stupid, so we didn't care. It made me think about people who face it daily. In things that do matter. Going to the grocery or drug store. Or at work. Or wherever. More stuff throughout the week. posted
by Unknown @ 9:25:00 PM |
