blogs.reuters.com
Many people reading this piece might find themselves living under someone else’s roof as a guest. Whether their situation is that of a fee-paying guest or a non-fee paying guest, the rules are the same. As many students at Moraine Valley who have to stay with guest families for the duration of programs can attest to NOT make their host think they’re the guest from hell!
When staying at someone’s home do not replicate your home situation in your host’s place. Respect your host’s rules. It may not make sense to you since it’s “not your style” but as long as they are legal and ethical, you have to abide by them. Don’t create a messy environment filled with clutter. Be mindful of your host’s atmosphere.
Be economical also. Don’t make long distance calls on your host’s home phone, leave the lights on in a room you are not returning to immediately, or leave the water running while brushing your teeth. If your host lets you use their car, do not return it with less gas than you met in it!
Keep your footprints light, literally: Do not go treading heavily through the house like one of Adolf Hitler’s jack-booted Storm Troopers. If you must eat from the common larder, eat lightly, so your host wonders if you have eaten, not why you ate everything!
Avoid borrowing things from your host. Forget what your host says about “ making yourself at home.” These are perhaps the most insincere words in the English language. Adjust yourself to your host, do not assume your host will adjust themselves to you, don’t expect that you’re special. Never ever dictate to a host: If you are the bossy domineering sort, curb it.
Being a good guest is all about common sense, and these standards outlined here do not constitute the Geneva Convention of guesting, but know this, if you don’t want your host to throw their hands in the air in joy because their guest from hell is departing when you leave, follow these rules.
