Maybe it’s the holiday’s, but this past month my home has been filled with numerous visitors and frankly, I’m exhausted. I think it may be because I’ve been hit with the unexpected guest. They simply ring my doorbell and ask to come in. No warning, no phone call, just a buzz of the doorbell to announce their arrival.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I need the warning phone call. I desperately want the warning phone call, even if its ten minutes before arrival because I need that time to clean my place. At the very least it’ll give me enough time to pick up the big chunks. So just call or better yet, text and ask if it’s a convenient time to come over. If it’s too inconvenient to do that, ask yourself if you’re too caught up in your own life that you don’t realize that other people have lives of their own. Makes you wonder, eh?
Don’t get me wrong, I like visits, but I need some advance notice here.
Which brings me to this: is showing up at ones doorstep the new, modern thing to do? I hope not. I don’t think I can handle the added stress.
The truth is that I like entertaining. I like putting out hors d’oeuvres on nice dishes and making drinks and having interesting conversations, but if I’m not given the advanced notice I need, then I can’t plan properly and that makes me frantic. Frankly, it robs me of providing the excellent hospitality I am known for and that’s just not cool. So please, call first.
How do you all handle unexpected guests?
4 Responses to “Come on Over, Unless of Course, You’re an Unexpected Guest”
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Honestly, I don’t have very many guests. Mine tend to call in advance, arrange a time to come by or something. Otherwise, their going to get the deep, commanding voice yelling “Who is it?” if they just show up. When I do that, most people get a bit frightened.
@ Angela – LOL! I’m thinking I need to be a little more vocal about the whole calling in advance thing.
@Angela – hahahaha, that’s funny.
@Janina – the unexpected/unannounced visit is a rare thing. Usually a Hey-I-just-happened-to-be-in-the-neighborhood visitor doesn’t want to come in/stay for long, but, rather, just say “hello” because they’re in the neighborhood. I’ve been that guy before. And, even–since cell phones–I never stop by without texting or calling to say “Hey, I just happen to be in your neighborhood.”
Aside from my girlfriend who visits a lot, I also don’t get ANY visitors. Single guy in a 1-bedroom apartment. After being in hospital last weekend, my mother decided for me that she would both visit me and spend the night at my place to help me around the house. Other than this, no one ever visits me–neither announced nor unannounced. If I really wasn’t comfortable or ready/able to let them, I’d meet them at the door closest to the outside and stand with the door open and talk to them, but let them know that I can’t have a guest over at this time. Otherwise, I love talking, having people over, and catching up and would probably let them in.
@ Shasa – Very informative. I’ve never tried that standing at the door thing. I must remember that technique.
I guess I just feel strange about telling people that it isn’t a good time b/c somewhere along the lines of my life I was told that it’s just plain rude to turn a guest away, but now that I’m married and have a child, I’m reassessing who the rude one is.
I used to love people dropping by in college, but this isn’t college anymore. I need some notice.