The Kindness of Front Desk Fabien

"If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another."
― Winston Churchill

A woman I know had to travel for business recently.  To make her early morning flight, she had to wake up at 4 am.  A few hours after arriving in the destination city, she would be giving a presentation to a group of new colleagues.  She knew that she would not be getting much sleep the night before and wanted to make sure that she could freshen up before the presentation, so she called the hotel the day before traveling.  She was lucky enough to speak to a wonderfully friendly fellow named Fabien.  She explained the situation and asked Fabien if there was any way that she could get an early check-in.  Fabien said that he would be on duty the next day and would do everything he could to help.

The next day, the woman arrived at the hotel with one of her work colleagues.  The colleague checked in first and was told that his room was not ready yet.  When the woman approached the desk, she saw the name tag on the employee ― it was Fabien.  She introduced herself and he said in a low voice, "I've been saving your room."  Her colleague wondered how she had gotten a room when he had not, and although the woman felt a little badly for him, she was grateful for Fabien's kindness.  Although she was not at her best on three hours' sleep, she at least felt presentable.