15 Minutes with Val, part 1 of 4

Tuesday, 3/2/10 11:40 pm - Wednesday, 3/3/10 12:35 am
Lobby of 295 Park Ave South

okay - so - how long have you been a doorman?
roughly 12 years.

how long have you been a doorman at this building?
this building? 12 years.

oh so you've been here since you've started?
yeah, because uhh..i didn't really start as a doorman. i was with the airlines before i came here
so i'm basically uhh..attuned with public service...its like..not like..public service...its like service oriented jobs.

was there any one event that made you want to become a doorman? or did the opportunity just arise?
it just arose becuase when i came to america....i was like...i had been with the airlines for 15 years...so when i came to america...i was connected with a...ummm...with a ummm travel agency....which was very much related with my kind of work when i was in the phillipines. so when i came, uhhh, i made... a little money here and there. then i decided to...i told myself that i would go back to the uhhh to the...thrill meeting all kinds of people everyday, which is what i did in travel

but the thing is, when i applied with an airline here in america...the umm..the airline industry in america isnt like what i expected from the phillipines because in america it was like, we'll just call you when we need you.

that doesn't help. so i was having trouble with the travel agency and one of my fraternity brothers gave me a buzz, he says bro...you satisfied with what you're doing there right now? and i said, yeah, basically im satisfied, why?

he says uhh well i have...i know of an opening in a building, ya know, if youre interested its also a service oriented kinda work because you'll be like...attending to tenants who live in apt buildings which is basically what you do like..in hotels. so i'm like oh that'd be fun, i'd be meeting a lot of people every day. different situations you know, different kinda stuff every day? and he says, yeah. and i said yeah i'll try it. so i came in here and when i came in here, it wasn't a steady job yet. it was like they were looking for people to cover, cover the shifts, like what robert's doing basically when he started. so thats how i started. i covered the shifts and it was...it was...it worked for me because...the travel agency....the travel agency thing you don't actually sit at a table, because i was with operations, i wasnt with reservations. sooo...in operations you sell tickets, you go to the airport, you help passengers, all taht stuff, so, so i says ooohh this is good, this is good for me i make money here, i make money there. and that's how i got here.

You've been here for 12 years, is that the longest any of the doormen have been here?
No.

Oh really?
Before Robert, I was the most junior.

No way.
Yes. Doc's been here for like what, 23 years? 22, 23 years? Sam's been here for what, 16, 17 years?

So once you find a building do you stick with it kinda thing?

Yeah well because the building workers in new york , is a pretty, uhhh, fair job in terms of compensation. So it's like, a lot of people stay the job and its a relaxing job. I mean I like talking to people...people like...so it depends on you liz, i mean if you like to talk to people...this would be a very nice...ya know, if you talk to people, handle stress, i mean when i was with the airlines I...i...i was...like...what i do here. I talk with people all the time, people tell me Val, this is the problem, this is the problem, this is the problem, Val, I have friends coming into the building, Val, my parents are coming into the building. Same thing with what you have with the airlines. It's more stressful with the airlines, but it's the same thing.

So you like interacting with people all the time?
Yeah, interacting with people is very nice job....for me. Talk to people, different kind of people. Talk with ummm...yeah ummm encounter different situations every day.

What is the craziest situation, if you can pick one, that you've ever been in?
Here in the building? There's lots. Do you want....do you want the x-rated ones or the general?

What's your fave?
No. No. No. No fave. No fave. You said crazy situations, sure there are crazy situations.

Just tell me any story. A crazy story.
Well it would depend on actually how you describe crazy. But theres...i've been in a lot of situations in the building. Like gang initiations in front of the building, they broke the uhh..glass partitions because...

(a young woman walks in with a young man)

Girl: Hi Val!
Val to me: Oh! Excuse me.

Val to girl (follows her to the middle of the lobby with small piece of paper in hand): Just to double check on your email. C-U-O...

Girl: K-U-O..P-J

Val: Oh... K-U-O-P-J. Gotchya.

Girl: Thank you, bye! (walks to elevator)
Young man waiting at elevator: Bye Val!

Val: Bye John!

John (still from elevator): You're not going to tell her about my girlfriends are you Val?

Val: Nah.

John: All 8?

Val: Nah. I'm not going to tell her that we share you know... (laughing)

Girl (laughs): I'll pay double whatever he pays you...

Val (laughing) to me: See?? Ummm..going back to....I still believe it was a gang initiation...because the guy was looking at me. A kid! 16, 17 years old, ummm... (a man walks in) Hi Jay!

Jay: Hey Val.

Val: And umm he was...he had a jacket on...and he was looking at me...you know...I was like doing that...reading my stuff here (points down to the big table of buttons with apt numbers on them used to buzz apts when guests arrive)..then he came back..looking at me again...then the third time he came back...and pulled a uhhh..a pipe....and he just...he just hit that (points ahead)...that glass partition... the first door...boom. So i got my little stick too (motions to cane) and he ran away.

That was a situation. Maybe somebody wanted to hurt you or something.

I've had situations where like....guys in the building hired strippers....and when the stripper came to the building..she said...she had an overcoat on...(brings hands across chest as if opening a coat)...wanna looksie?

...that was a situation.

I've had a situation where a tenant comes into the building and says "Val?" And I say "yeah." ..."I'm drunk." Okay? She just dove on the floor (lauging)

Okay. Another situation where a guy tenant comes in...again, "Val I'm drunk" Blahhhhhh. Puked all over the place.

That must be the worst.
Nah. Eh. You know, well....things like that...very common. Very very common.

I mean you get to see people at their best and at their worst, right?
Weeeell, if I write my memoirs right now, I would make money because a lot of people would pay me not to write them.

(to tenant): What's up Adam?

Adam: Can I pick up my package?

Val (to Adam): Oh you have a package?
(to me): Excuse me.

(to Adam): She's interviewing me for a Hollywood movie.

Adam (to me): Oh yeah, what's the movie about?

**I explain my class project to Adam while Val gets the package, Val also says "whats up!" as another tenant walks in, returns to his post and reminds me that we will have to sit on the bench when it's midnight because that's when Jay will take over**

Do you have any pet peeves?
Ummmmmm. I really don't like when a lot of....a lot of...guests, or visitors in the building don't seem to realize that we have a function here. And they don't seem to know how to read that thing (points to standing sign "All Visitors Must be Announced"). Sooo. one of the things that I really hate, is when people just go through, seeing that, and seeing us here, and its like 'oh it's okay for me to go up.' You know, things like that. It's like..if I was the friend, that they're going to visit, I would be mad at me, the doorman. Because you're supposed to do that, and you didn't. Ya know. That's...that's one of my pet peeves. Like. If it happened, hey you being a tenant, should like..tell your friend too...hey, if you're my friend, you should stop for the doorman, because that's why he's there. And that's why I live in the building, to let the doorman help me with my things, and to announce my guests, and to protect me. Right? If you're my friend, please, don't abuse the doorman. I mean to me, to me, it's like abusing us here. You just...ignore that sign...and you know...I don't look like a bum do I? (Motions to clothes, wearing long-sleeved button down white shirt and a navy tie with black pants). No, of course not, right? And when you're in a building in New York, when you see somebody there standing there doing like this, kay that's gotta be a person with authority right? A lot of friends of tenants don't give....*whispers*...a shit.

So tell me more about what you're wearing. Do you have a uniform?
Yeah. I mean its like...we have to be presentable...with a tie, long sleeved shirts. And if we really, we just basically..... like what a really doorman....he'd also have...another jacket. But the thing is, we are everything. Like doorman, security, concierge. So if, if it was basically like pure doorman, where you'd be out there (motions outside) I'd be wearing those things, because, jacket...it's cold. Especially in weather like this. But I'm inside. And I think this is presentable.