Feb 20 Day 26 Have you ever felt completely drained?

Today I returned home after spending an entire week helping out during the Texas winter storm crisis.

It all started about a year ago when I learned that I could not collect social security because I hadn't worked in the US long enough. I took a part-time job at the local Hampton Inn, and before I knew it I had made up the time I needed, but I found that I really like working there. I stayed on for 2-3 days per week, or whenever they need me.

On February 13, I went to work knowing that I should stay there because there was freezing weather coming. What none of us expected was that on Sunday, February 14, none of the housekeeping staff would come into work. ZERO!

The first day, those of us who could get there showed up. Managers, maintenance, and front desk staff were all there doing the housekeeping work for a full hotel. At one point 2 women from housekeeping, who had recently quit, came voluntarily to help out. They truly saved the day. I have complete respect for housekeeping teams who know how to flip rooms efficiently. Those 2 women were turning over rooms faster than 4 others who had no training.

The hotel filled up with employees from local assisted living, healthcare workers, Walmart and HEB. the hotel was packed every day. Then local residents started calling needing help as they had no water or heat. The situation was dire for so many people, but because of liability and safety issues, we could not do as much as we wanted to for those who needed the help most.

We allowed a few people to sleep in their cars in our parking lot so they could use our bathrooms and get a hot cup of coffee. We could have allowed people to shower in the pool area showers, as there was hot water, but the entire area was icy and full of snow causing yet another safety issue.

I learned a lot about people this week and how they react in the State of Emergency. The most important thing I learned is that most people have no concept of what it means. They have only seen a State of Emergency on TV. It might be a good idea to educate people on what to do and how to act in an emergency.

But for now, I am so proud to be part of such a dedicated team of people who knew exactly what they needed to do to get through this week with as little stress as possible. It was stressful, but we didn't show that on the outside. We just did what we needed to do to make the best of a bad situation.