by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Mary Stavropoulos

Age: 44

Occupation: Chambermaid

Salary: Just under $14 an hour. “We get paid good, let me tell you. I know doctors who don’t make this much.”

Bio: This lusty LaSalle mother of three adult children has been working non-stop since she was all of 16 years old. Having laboured as a finisher in the fur industry for most of her life, eight years ago she decided it was time for a career change and landed herself a job cleaning rooms at the Hotel Vogue on de la Montagne. Largely because of them kooky animal rights activists, she feels that the fur industry is in permanent decline and holds little future for former factory workers like herself. She also likes to cook and is rumoured to make a mean baklava.

Does she shake her fist at the television set every time a PETA ad comes on, angry that animal rights activists stole her career as a factory worker away from her? No. “I honestly thought I was on vacation when I first started working at the Vogue. It’s a lot more pleasant. We’re like a family here.”

Has she ever walked into a room while a couple was busy going at it? “Well, not on purpose, you know. But when I first started I was so scared of not having enough time to clean all my rooms. So I was running around and one time I was practically finished cleaning an entire room before I turned my head and saw there was a couple in the bathtub together. I just went, ‘Oh, my Lord, I’m sorry,’ and walked out. I was all red-faced and humiliated. I had to let my supervisor know about it in case they complained.”

The percentage of people who tip their chambermaids: About 70 per cent.

Her biggest tip to date: $50.

Do people sometimes deliberately leave fecal matter in and around the toilet to show their accomplishments off to her? “That’s not something I really pay attention to. This is a five-star hotel, you know. It’s not 15 and 16 year olds staying here.”

How often people forget stuff in their rooms: Mary says she brings at least one item down to the lost and found every day. If it remains unclaimed after three months, she gets to keep it.

A few things she has scored: Original artwork, coats, bottles of wine, books. “And good books too, bestsellers!”

Best part of the job: “When my supervisor checks out one of the rooms I’ve cleaned and comes out wearing a smile. That’s the best.”

Worst: Dusting.

The last thing she wants to do when she gets home at night: Housework.

Childhood ambition: To become a schoolteacher.

Literary preferences: Danielle Steele, Joy Fielding, Woman’s World magazine.

Musical preferences: Tom Jones, Alicia Keys, Charles Aznavour.

Words of wisdom: “If you spit straight up in the air it is going to come right back down in your face. Treat people with respect and they will do the same - no matter what colour, race or religion they are.” :

Comments? dimwit@openface.ca