Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Fish and visitors smell in three days. ~Benjamin Franklin

How true!

Recently, I had some guests come over a my place. Now, I'm not a bad person; I am just not that comfortable when there are guests in my house. I don't mind some close relatives, cos them I'm quite comfortable with, but when it comes to distant relatives, I can at the most survive for 3 days. And thats how long they had come for.

Now, I know that in India, guests are like God. But it gets really irritating if even they start behaving as if they are doing us a favor by just being there. I saw for 3 days, my mom, bhabhi & sometimes me, slog all the time for them. And all the guests kept warming our chairs/sofas/beds, never once offering to help even a little!! Whenever my family has gone as guests to anybody's place, I always remember my mom never lets me sit if the host is working, she and me always help. And its fair too. A person is doing a favor to you, when he lets you invade his privacy, his routine. The least that you can do is behave human. I wondered later on when my mom & bhabhi went down with viral, was the fatigue of last 2-3 days partly responsible for taking them down. I'm not writing this for fun, I felt deeply about this. I wouldn't want anybody to slog for me so much let alone fall sick cos of me. Thats why I came up with this -

Some guidelines that should be followed when you go as a guest to somebody who is not that close to you -

1. Do NOT live as if it's your own house.

2. Do NOT treat their living room as a place for you to roam around only in a short bermuda after bath, even though you might be doin this at your place.

3. Do NOT treat their TV as your own, respect their choices/preferences.

4. Do offer to help around in the chores as much as possible.

5. Do respect the fact that you are in their house and not the other way round.

6. Do follow this when you come to my place :P

Sayonara!

5 comments:

Seriously Funny said...

Nice ones there :). I better be careful the next time i visit you... :D

Shruti said...

You better be...but i know you...you are not even remotely a threat as a guest!! :P

Chintan said...

I wonder how many of your guidelines will change with the lifestyle of US... :) ... Nonetheless, a very nice post ...a thought which comes often with "guests" around....gr8 one Shruti :)

Anonymous said...

I would not entirely agree with your so-called "guidelines". If you are too formal with your host, sometimes that makes the life of both a little more difficult. I know there's a thin line between your house and you going to someone else' house. I accede to that point as well that you need to help your host in preparing food and other activities. But then if you just sit in front of the TV and many such similar things and let your host take the complete control of the wheel, it starts to suck a little. You need to make sure you BREAK THE ICE...if you understand what i mean....

Anonymous said...

...please where can I buy a unicorn?