Tomsky said that he learned after a while that there were certain punishments that he could dole out to guests he didn't like – guests who, for instance, made racist or homophobic remarks or yelled at their children or spouse. "One of the most wonderful tools at my disposal is putting a guest into a certain room on the twelfth floor," he wrote. "What is so punishing about this room?... If I put you in room 1212, your phone will not stop ringing with wrong numbers. Why? Well, a surprising number of guests never seem to learn that from every hotel phone you have to dial out. In general, to place any call, one must 9 prior to dialing, local or otherwise. So all day, and believe me, all night, idiots dispersed throughout the building will pick up their phones and try to straight dial a local number, starting with 1-212.... 1212's guest will constantly pick up the 3:00 a.m. call and hear the loud mashing of other numbers or some ... guest saying, 'Hello? Hello? Who is this?' 'What time is it? Why are you calling me? Who is this?' 'I'd like to order the Szechuan chicken please? Excuse me? Is this Happy Family Palace?' All day. All night."
