After my last post I received a bunch of emails from long time readers asking about our desire to provide items to guests. “Why would you fill your house with nice things?,” one reader asked.
As I mentioned before we try to provide a happy, fun, easy atmosphere for our guests. We know that most folks only get one week of vacation per year and we do our best to provide the amenities that help make our house feel like a home. If we can provide beach chairs, umbrellas, pool toys, etc. then guests don’t need to cram so much in their cars.
If we can provide pots, pans, bowls and nice serving ware families can cook and eat together. The kitchen can smell like bacon and eggs in the morning and chocolate chip cookies and popcorn at night.
In ten years as owners of a rental home this is the first time we have been experienced a significant financial loss. It’s also the first time anyone has broken into our locked closets and taken items that were clearly ours.
I like to believe that most people are inherently good. A few years ago a guest broke a small stereo of ours. A week after their stay I received a large box in the mail from Target. Wouldn’t you know they replaced the unit and sent a note apologizing for breaking it?
Another year a guest broke a glass measuring cup. She replaced the item and left behind a letter of apology.
Last year a family left behind a t-shirt from their local fire department. They enjoyed our home so much they wanted to provide something special for my son who donates gift cards, (along with us), to the fire department each winter. They also left behind a thank you note and a large bottle of wine.
I reiterate: Most People are Good. There will be a few sour folks who steal stuff that doesn’t belong to them. There will be guests who break items and throw them out in the garbage hoping no one notices, but for every one of those guests there are probably ten or fifteen upstanding citizens who treat our items with the care and respect they deserve.
It is for those guests that we make our house feel like a home.