What do you do if you are an overnight guest in a friend's home and, as you prepare to depart in the early morning hours, long before your host is awake, you find a cockroach keeping you company in the kitchen?
The person who asked me this question had placed a glass over the bug and left a note for his host as he wanted to alert him to the unexpected company but didn't want to wake him. But was this the appropriate way to handle the matter?
I must admit, it took me a while to stop laughing over this one -- and I hope that the host had had his coffee by the time he found said cockroach under glass -- but I appreciated the concern behind the question.
When you are a guest in someone else's home, it is important that you be a "best guest." Your conduct and consideration for your host -- and their property -- should be exemplary. Don't eat all of the food in the pantry, leave wet towels on the floor of the bathroom, monopolize the television, expect to be waited on hand and foot, and then wonder why you aren't invited back.
Do:
- Offer to help out around the house
- Keep your personal belongings neatly contained
- Bring in groceries or take your hosts out for a meal
- Share your itinerary and plan on entertaining yourself as your hosts may have other activities, such as work, to attend to
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Remember...
Visiting others, be they friends or family, is a lovely way to reconnect and a fun way to explore a new location.
As always, keep in mind that you will be judged by how you present yourself. No matter how well you conduct yourself or how welcome you are, it is always better to leave a visit too short than have your host heave a sigh of relief upon your departure.
As Benjamin Frankin once said, "Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days."
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