Hotel maid overhears rude remark from ‘jerk’ customer

Dear Amy: This summer my 21-year-old daughter has been working as a hotel maid. While working one morning she overheard a father say to his teenage son, “You had better stay in school or you will end up like her” — indicating my daughter. My daughter was hurt. She assumed the father did not intend for her to hear the remark and felt the hotel management would not want her to comment to the guest, and so she said nothing.

I appreciate the father’s desire to encourage his son to continue his education, but I am appalled by the lack of respect for a working person. Ironically, my daughter is beginning her junior year at college and working this summer to earn money for a semester abroad. In my opinion, he would be lucky to have his son “end up like her.” Should my daughter have said anything — and if so, what would have been the appropriate response? — Proud Mom