I almost dropped my glass.

Last Thursday the hotel threw a little party.

The party was for our clinents who had helped make the first year a very successful year - in terms of revenue, the competition and well, Manchester in general. And we wanted to thank our clients.

So the LONDON GUY had the idea to throw a little Barbeque in our second restaurant.

Sales sent out the invites and 90 confirmed.

An outside grill was ordered.

The chef prepared a huge buffet.

THE BOSS asked all of us to be in attendance, to be the hosts and generally schmooze.

In the crazy business that we call hospitality we measure the volume of business given to us from a company and agency in..

Wait for it Binky....

...Room Nights. Not revenue. Room nights. And the more room nights we get the better there rates will be. So all those invited had generated a minmum of four hundred room nights in the first year. Some had generated a couple of thousand and therefore we consider them a major client.

I digress.

As the guests began to arrive I decided to take my place at the entrance of the hotel to meet them, greet them and escort them through for a welcome drink and some chow.

And this I did almost all night.

It was either that or make small talk with people I have never met about subjects I know very little about or have no interest in.

Anyway.....

Half way through the evening THE BOSS gave a speech.

In the last year I have heard him do this several times and I have to say, he is a good statesman.

Half way through his speech he tells everybody that the management team that he has in the hotel is the best he has ever worked with-

-And at his point I feel a swell of pride. For me, he is the best General Manager I have worked with. I like him, I respect him.

He continues and then says something, something that validates one person and invalidates everybody else.

He tells them we are the best team he has ever worked with especially THE LONDON GUY.

I could have dropped my glass. It felt like I had been slapped in the face.

I admit I sulked a little that night and when I got home I fired up the old computerino and started redrafting my resume.

I could have dropped my glass.