Pool-side Service is a Must

I am now a firm believer in pool-side service at resorts. Let me tell you why...

It's not that I actually ordered a drink, though I've heard that their pina coladas (virgin, of course) are tastier than at a restaurant. Maybe that's just because you are drinking your pina colada next to a pool! The reason I think pool-side service is a must have for resorts with crowded pools is because they become a second source of security.

It's not a good start to a story, but don't worry we had a good ending.

After all of the Allstate festivities of our Maui trip, we switched from living in a condo to the large resort next door. Scott and I had heard rumors that one of the hotels on our beach strip had a lazy river. I'm kind of vacation obsessed with lazy rivers. If I ever own acres of land in a warm climate, I plan to build a lazy river in my backyard. Anyway,  we walked all the way down the boardwalk to this hotel, only to find that it had a cavernous, non-lazy type of river pool. After the long walk back to our hotel, our feet were achy and we decided to lay by the pool and later take a quick dip.

We picked out some lawn chairs next to the pool with a volley ball net and put on sunscreen. After the loition had solidified with a chapter of reading and cellphone Sudoku, we decided to sit at the edge of the pool to get cool.  We were in the pool for no longer than five minutes when we returned to our chairs and found that my bag had been riffled through. I recognized it immediately, as I am generally paranoid about that sort of thing, and I had distinctly remembered placing Scott's cellphone on top of his shirt. Scott was skeptical. We'd only been gone for a few minutes after all. To prove it I dumped out my whole bag of beach goodies and found that not only had Scott's amazing cellphone been taken, but also my camera with all our Hawaii memories.

Do you see a pattern here? I feel like I'm either a glutton for punishment or there's a sign on my back that says "Steal Here." Scott and I have had a series of unfortunate theft since we've been married. The day after our wedding, we found my car in the hotel parking lot with a window broken and my temple bag gone. Our first year of marriage our apartment was broken into. We must have gotten soft approaching our three year anniversary.

Scott using his beloved phone to text pictures of Hawaii on Day 1

With my bag dumped out, and a burning passion for his cellphone (I've been meaning to post about how Scott adores his new phone... maybe next week.) Scott was convinced that we were indeed robbed. What to do? Tell security. It sounds like a lot of time has passed, but we're still at the five minute mark.

The security guard didn't believe us. "It's rather unusual for someone to rummage through your things to find valuables. Usually the thief will take your whole bag and be long gone. Maybe you should go check your room to see if you left your phone there." I don't know what to tell you, Safety Man. We were here using our phone three minutes ago, SAT by the pool, and then returned to a phone-less, camera-less bag. At a point of clueless desperation, the pool-side waiter came by. He'd seen some unusual teens lingering in our area, and didn't think they were the type to stay at the resort. Not only had he seen the kids near our lounge chairs, the waiter had pinned the scout of the group on the upper pool deck!

Security went to the upper deck. We thanked the waiter profusely, and I began dialing Scott's phone non-stop. Scott, then wandered around the pool area to see if he could hear the phone.

Safety Man returned with a sophomore, junior aged teen and took him inside the hotel. Still calling...

And then someone picked up! "I think this is someone's lost phone," and man answered. "It is! It's my husband's! Where are you?"

Fortunately for us, there were miracles at the pool that day! A couple, returning from a walk on the beach, saw a boy throw a cellphone into the bushes behind him. The couple found that odd, and walked over to the area to see what was going on. At the same time, another couple saw two other boys going through guests bags by the pool. Security was informed, two more boys were taken into the hotel, and the couples returned to us the found cellphone and camera!

We are LUCKY, and have now learned an important lesson - We aren't allowed to swim in crowded pools at the same time. I only hope that those teenagers have also learned a lesson. As my dad put it, I just want them to be successful in life, and obviously they are not successful as thieves.