Knock, Call, Repeat

One of the crazy and interesting parts of my housekeeping job is that I never know what I'll find when I open the door to a hotel room. Sometimes, it can be something neat, like a tip or snack the guest left behind for me; other times, it can be something awkward or downright terrifying. Today, a friend at work, let's just call her Em, came across something more on that latter side of possibilities.
Now before I jump in, I'm going to give you a mini lesson from the housekeeper's survival guide. The most important thing to do before you walk into a room is to knock and announce "Housekeeping!" You know what's weird? People who aren't housekeepers do this all the time! I'm serious! I can't begin to tell you how many times I have been at the hotel cleaning away and have seen people knock on doors of friends and family and then say in a goofy voice "Housekeeping!" Then they burst out laughing. Wow. Hey-larious. How original. As if that hasn't been done a gazillion, kabillion, trillion, traquajillion times. Seriously, at least once a day someone does this to a friend or relative; I'm not even exaggerating, though I kinda wish I was.
But either way, regardless of who's doing the knocking and calling out, the typical reaction is to open the door. Sure, some people call out, "Come back later!" or "No thanks!" or "We're fine!" Something to that extent. But people say something or open the door, or at least make some noise...something...
If you're unfamiliar with the experience, think of it this way: It's kind of like you're at a public restroom with one stall and no lock on the door. Someone knocks. You're probably going to call out or say "Just a minute" or something similar. It's highly unlikely that you're not going to say something in an attempt to prevent them from opening that door.
For some odd reason that's not always the case in the housekeeping world. Take Em's story today. She knocks. She calls out. She repeats. (Yep, we're required to repeat the knock-call routine now as one of the hotel rules.) Silence on the other side of the door. So she inserts the key card and pushes the door open only to encounter...an old naked man. Just wandering about his room, you know, reading the paper, drinking coffee, the usual morning routine. Only naked. She stammers an apology and runs out, then refuses to return to 3rd floor for several minutes.
Awkward! Now, there is a moral to this short story, and it goes like this: Please, people, please, answer the knock! I sincerely guarantee that we don't want to see your naked bums in the morning. Or at night. Or any time. Thank you very much.