By GARRET LEIVA
Community editor
June 04, 2008 04:00 am When it comes to filling out hotel comment cards, it takes more than a dirty down comforter to ruffle my feathers. Broken A/C -- hot, but only slightly bothered. No towels -- all wet, but only dampened spirits. However, I draw the line at "unforeseen circumstances" floating in the pool. The line was drawn because there wasn't room under "other" on the comment card. This weekend marked another long trip in the family minivan. While our van is an extended version, so was the amount of family along for the ride. Even though you can squeeze four adults, three kids in car seats and accompanying flotsam into a Dodge Caravan, don't stand too close when the sliding door opens. After 189 miles of close family bonding -- expelling $4.15 a gallon gas, and $25 worth of fast food drive-thru without the aid of a catalytic converter -- we reached the hotel parking lot. While the moms headed out for a chick flick, the dads stayed behind for a relaxing dip in the hotel pool. That is if you define screaming kids and water wings to the face as relaxation. Then we came across a sign that stopped us in our flip-flops: "Pool closed" The woman at guest services told us in a hushed tone that there had been an "accident" and the pool was closed until further notice. She did divulge that the "accident" occurred during a kids birthday party. Within 30 seconds someone referenced the movie "Caddyshack" and the mistaken Baby Ruth. The kids under age 30 were left scratching their swim-goggle clad heads. Of course we still had explaining to do since several of our brood can read. They also saw, or heard, right through the "accident" euphemism. Naturally the "accident" was fodder for a potty talk roundtable in front of other guests relegated to soak in the hotel hot tub. Now "shock" is a term used to describe cleaning a swimming pool with chemicals. However, no one was completely, utterly or just plain shocked to find the hotel pool still closed the next day. Perhaps the real shock awaited the maintenance crew on Monday morning. In fact the scene of the "accident" remained unchanged except for one thing -- the sign on the door. I'm guessing a mid-level manager must have gotten involved in the typing since now "Due to unforeseen circumstances..." the pool was closed. An interesting choice of words, since the "unforeseen circumstances" were still in plain sight. As teaching moments go, the "unforeseen circumstances" led to an impromptu science lesson on the way to breakfast. Thankfully the sight of sugared cereal meant we could draw the line at Archimedes' laws of buoyancy. The hair in the pastry, however, was another line to add to the hotel comment card.
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Garret Leiva, Community editor