The Voyeur's Motel by Gay Talese

Author:Gay Talese
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Published: 2016-06-01T13:27:53+00:00

SEVENTEEN

WRITTEN OVER so many years, Gerald’s journal not only illuminates changing social patterns as seen through the observation vents, it reflects demographic changes as well. From 1960 to 1980, Colorado’s population grew by 65 percent, over a million new residents, some of whom passed through the Manor House Motel. They were not always appreciated.

White working-class couple in their 30s, with a U-haul trailer attached to their old sedan, arrived from Chicago and rented a room for a week. He was a 6-foot man of about 190 lbs, and she was about 5’8”, slim and of average appearance. Both were very talkative, and he in particular expressed a desire to acquire work in the area and ultimately settle here.

I observed them from time to time during the week and they were having a terrible time finding work and housing. Their sex life was non-existent, and when he would approach her she would resist him and also say something critical. She said he was not trying hard enough to get a job.

From time to time, he would discuss his problems with me in the office. But he would present a different attitude than the real one of desperation that I overheard from the vent. He told me that things were looking up. At the end of the week, when the room rent was due, he asked for a three-day extension, saying he was expecting a check from Chicago. I sympathized with his situation and granted his request.

During observation the next day, I overheard the guy telling his wife: “The dumb guy in the office thinks I have a check coming in from Chicago, and we’ll fool him the same way we did at the motel in Omaha.”

She was upset with him, saying he should get a job and stop taking advantage of people’s generosity.

And so the bastard was a liar, and I decided to protect my interests and put a lock-out cover on their door knob. This device prevents a guest from getting their key to open the door. When the couple returned to their room, the guy comes rushing into the office, saying to me: “You told me we could stay until I received my check.” I replied, “I’ve decided you should make other arrangements and pay for the room now.” He said, “You know the check is coming in.” “There’s no guarantee,” I said, and I went on to tell him I would retain his belongings until he pays for the room in full.

He angrily left. I waited for a half-hour and then changed the locks on his door and moved their belongings into our storage room.

Conclusion: Thousands of unhappy, discontented people are moving to Colorado in order to fulfill that deep yearning in their soul, hoping to improve their way of life, and arrive here without any money and discover only despair. . . . Society has taught us to lie, steal, and cheat, and deception is the paramount prerequisite in man’s makeup. . . . As my observation

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