by Dwight Wayne Coop
Eddy Ruíz Umaña’s employers at a Guatemala
City hotel wish they could clone him. He cannot clerk there 24 hours a day,
much as everyone — especially guests — would like. Sometimes he
works nights, sometimes days, sometimes graveyards. That is the hardest part
of his job; after several years, his biological clock needs an occasional rewind.
Although his countenance belies it
in this photograph, kindness to
everyone is Umaña’s trademark.
Kindness to everyone who comes to the front desk is his trademark.
Ruíz never loses his cool, even when trampled by the wrath of frustrated
guests. The abuse periodically heaped on him is never deserved, although some
abusive guests ultimately apologize. But even when they do not, Ruíz’s
forgiveness is always automatic. Then he goes back to fixing things as if nothing
happened.
The hotel does not always have a pill for the guest with a
headache, so Ruíz — from his meager salary — stashes painkillers,
seltzers and other aids. His hotel is under the airport flight pattern, so it
has more than the usual number of insomniacs. If they wander into the lobby
at 2 a.m., Ruíz keeps them company. Many guests wind up becoming “his”
customers, returning simply because he works there.
Aside from his sanguine disposition, his English helped him
land the job. An inductive learner with no formal training but unlimited enthusiasm,
Ruíz mastered English by memorizing the lyrics of “A Horse with
No Name,” “The Year of the Cat” and dozens of other songs,
and by devouring, word-by-word, entire articles in Readers Digest, Astronomy
and The World Almanac. In his quest for more nearly perfect English, he keeps
a notebook handy. When he hears an unfamiliar word or colloquialism, it comes
out, and he will not let you go until you have pronounced the word for him several
times. His co-workers quip that Ruíz (who is single) is married to his
notebook.
“Let me see if I can stir up a bellboy for you,”
he tells a guest, who then asks if he has been to the U.S. “No, but I
hope to make it up someday. To look around and practice English. And see if
people there are as friendly as those who come to Guatemala.” •
