10 November 2027
Wednesday. The telephone rang at the desk and somebody said it was for me. I braced myself for a murder. It was a booking.
A lady wished to bring her husband to the hotel on a Saturday, the two of them alone. I explained the rule: on Saturdays the hotel prefers four or more when booking on the internet, but a pair may telephone on the day, or walk in, and take a free hour if there is one. On the other days of the week two is perfectly respectable.
For everybody else there is the booking page, where one chooses a time and is confirmed at once, without speaking to anybody. I find this efficient and slightly sad. I enjoy speaking to people. They so rarely enjoy speaking to me.
I handed the telephone back to the desk with dignity. Croissant, who had been hoping it was the bakery, sighed.
— Insp. A. Brochard, Gendarmerie
