Guest Towels....are they for guests?

[bigvalboy]

Guest soap is useless.....It doesn't even lather.... It would be more considerate of the host to leave a little dish of edible candy, so you can replenish after you take a dump....

 

[Rudynate]

I have been rudely treated because I failed, and played host for a week to a German family who, apparently, found nothing to approve in my home and told me so constantly. Bad tourists are bad tourists no matter where they originate or travel!

 

My goodness! How do I get down off this rickety soapbox?? Sorry

 

Most Europeans don't care much for German tourists either.

 

In the last month, I have had two wonderful meetings with Europeans. Several weeks ago, I spent an afternoon with five Examiners from the European Patent Organization. For some reason, they chose me as a practitioner they wanted to meet and talk to. I booked a conference room, had some refreshments catered and we sat around chewing the fat about European and US patent practice, complaining about BREXIT, etc. for two hours. They were all so smart, competent and courteous that it was a fabulous afternoon.

 

Then, just a couple weeks ago, some Examiners from the Swiss Patent Office invited me to a presentation about their free-market research services at the DeYoung Museum. There was nice catered lunch. The turnout was way less than they expected, so the few attendees got to spend a lot of face time with the Swiss Examiners. Again, just a great time.

[Jbdesc]

If I leave it in the guest bathroom I expect it to be used when needed. I have, in my opinion very nice linens in there but if it was something I did not want to be used I would

• Not put it out
  
• Not buy it
  
• Inform my guest by kindly giving them available alternatives.
  
• Swap them out before they are going to be needed.
  

I understand the need for some finer things in life, but I also have to question its quality if you can't even clean it.

[AdamSmith]

I understand the need for some finer things in life, but I also have to question its quality if you can't even clean it.

My dear mama, God love her, has two drawers full of table linens that she considers too good to use.

[Epigonos]

Two remarks regarding the track this thread as taken:

 

1. My best friend and his wife have two grown children. His daughter is in a same sex marriage and has a two year old daughter. Once a year his wife’s aunt and uncle, from a small town in Iowa, come for a two week visit. They are fanatic “born agains” and let it be known, prior to their last visit, that my friend’s daughter’s family would not be welcome in my friend’s home during their visit. My friend’s wife took the attitude that her aunt and uncle were old and that their wishes should be honored. My friend went fucking ballistic and informed his wife that the next time they came to visit he would NOT pick them up at the airport and would NOT stay under the same roof with them. Unfortunately his wife did not take him seriously and believed that he would calm down and things would be fine. Later when his wife gave him the dates they would be staying and when they would need to be picked up at the airport my friend said nothing until later in the day. At dinner that evening he informed his wife that she would have to pick them up at the airport and presented her with a card from a local hotel where he would be staying. His wife was, at first, incredulous and then furious. He stuck to his guns and his wife had to pick up her relatives at the airport and entertain them alone during their two week visit. During those two weeks my friend and I went out to dinner a couple of time and he came to my place two or three times for dinner. That was the LAST TIME the aunt and uncle visited.

 

2. I recently spent two weeks in Paris. The Parisians have a horrible reputation for being rude to visitors who are not fluent in French. I have always been a big time Anglophile and an equally strong Francophobe. This recent visit blew my anti Parisian notions to hell. During the entire two week I was treated with great kindness and graciousness. Everybody I met went out of their way to be helpful. Two individuals even thanked me for visiting. When I asked why they thanked me I was informed that because of the terrorist problems they have been experiencing the tourist traffic had declined markedly and they appreciated the fact that I was still willing to visit. I had a wonderful trip and met a multitude of wonderful people.

[Jbdesc]

Two remarks regarding the track this thread as taken:

 

1. My best friend and his wife have two grown children. His daughter is in a same sex marriage and has a two year old daughter. Once a year his wife’s aunt and uncle, from a small two in Iowa, come for a two week visit. They are fanatic “born agains” and let it be known, prior to their last visit, that my friend’s daughter’s family would not be welcome in my friend’s home during their visit. My friend’s wife took the attitude that her aunt and uncle were old and that their wishes should be honored. My friend went fucking ballistic and informed his wife that the next time they came to visit he would NOT pick them up at the airport and would NOT stay under the same roof with them. Unfortunately his wife did not take him seriously and believed that he would calm down and things would be fine. Later when his wife gave him the dates they would be staying and when they would need to be picked up at the airport my friend said nothing until later in the day. At dinner that evening he informed his wife that she would have to pick them up at the airport and presented her with a card from a local hotel where he would be staying. His wife was, at first, incredulous and then furious. He stuck to his guns and his wife had to pick up her relatives at the airport and entertain them alone during their two week visit. During the two weeks of the visit my friend and I went out to dinner together a couple of time and he came to my place two or three times for dinner. That was the LAST TIME the aunt and uncle visited.

 

I salute your friend for not grinning and bearing such bigoted people. Hopefully some day people will learn that regardless of your religious beliefs, walks of life, political opinions, etc - you should just be a good person in all walks of life.

[Zapped]

This thread was an interesting and entertaining read. For overnight guests, what about simply explaining what towels they are to use (like "I've put towels for you to use on your bed" or "There are bath towels for you to use in your bathroom") and then explaining what to do with them when they are done (like, "please just hand them on the towel rack in the bathroom when you're done")?

[AdamSmith]

This thread was an interesting and entertaining read. For overnight guests, what about simply explaining what towels they are to use (like "I've put towels for you to use on your bed" or "There are bath towels for you to use in your bathroom") and then explaining what to do with them when they are done (like, "please just hand them on the towel rack in the bathroom when you're done")?

Common sense?!

 

Are you sure you're in the right forum?

[Rudynate]

This thread was an interesting and entertaining read. For overnight guests, what about simply explaining what towels they are to use (like "I've put towels for you to use on your bed" or "There are bath towels for you to use in your bathroom") and then explaining what to do with them when they are done (like, "please just hand them on the towel rack in the bathroom when you're done")?

 

It is a little weird, though. I don't drop towels on the floor in my own home. If I don't do it in my own home, I'm certainly not going to do it in somebody else's.

[gallahadesquire]

I can't find a decent photo. My Grandmother, born in England, had her art crafts. One was to take Sweetheart soap; scratch off the writing; and place cute little decals on them. Heaven forbid you used them!

 

She also liked making things that required airplane glue … like grape hunches, made by heating people marbles to 400° and then placing in cold water. She'd glue these together in a poorly ventilated room. And would be very happy for the rest of the day. Even better than when she had her Old Fashioned [before they went out if style].

[Rudynate]

I can't find a decent photo. My Grandmother, born in England, had her art crafts. One was to take Sweetheart soap; scratch off the writing; and place cute little decals on them. Heaven forbid you used them!

 

She also liked making things that required airplane glue … like grape hunches, made by heating people marbles to 400° and then placing in cold water. She'd glue these together in a poorly ventilated room. And would be very happy for the rest of the day. Even better than when she had her Old Fashioned [before they went out if style].

 

My grandmother did a lot of crochet. She crocheted miniature women's shoes from glittery crochet thread. She then stretched the shoes on a plastic form so that they would hold their shape and dipped them in a heavy sugar syrup to stiffen them. After the syrup set, she would remove the plastic form, stitch individual shoes together into pairs and then decorate them with ribbons and artificial flowers. She sold them, gave them as gifts, had them sitting all over her house. As a kid I loved them. I could never understand why my mother hated them so.

 

 

My aunt had this ghastly thing that she put in the middle of the bed every morning after she made it. It was a doll, sort of like a Barbie doll, with this enormous multi-colored dress crocheted around it that spread out into an enormous circle on the bed spread. The doll stood there in the center of the bed with the dress spread out around it. Even as a little kid, I knew that was tacky.

 

That's how working class women in rural New York state kept themselves occupied in the 50s.

[+ Eric Hassan]

I can't find a decent photo. My Grandmother, born in England, had her art crafts. One was to take Sweetheart soap; scratch off the writing; and place cute little decals on them. Heaven forbid you used them!

 

She also liked making things that required airplane glue … like grape hunches, made by heating people marbles to 400° and then placing in cold water. She'd glue these together in a poorly ventilated room. And would be very happy for the rest of the day. Even better than when she had her Old Fashioned [before they went out if style].

 

I would have loved your grandmother.

[BasketBaller]

In regards to the issue of leaving the towels on the floor, could that be because hotels now ask you to leave towels that need washing on the floor? If you put them on the towel bar they don't wash them. It would never occur to me to do that in someone's house, but maybe some are being confused about the practice.

[MikeyGMin]

I can't even wrap my head around the concept of having something in my guest bathroom that isn't there for my guests to use. Towels, soap, shower supplies, it's all there and it's all meant to be used. I arrange them purty when I have guests coming, but I fully expect them to be used and thrown over a towel rack or left on the counter.

 

Decorative towels that aren't meant to be used is about one degree above plastic coverings on furniture!

[AdamSmith]

My dear mama, God love her, has two drawers full of table linens that she considers too good to use.

If she had a sense of humor, I would suggest to her that we have a seamstress make them into either her (mama's) or my casket lining.

[mike carey]

Skip the towels, but be prepared to lick every inch of my body nice and clean

Thanks for getting this thread back on track, or rather on the track it perhaps should have been on. Not all guests are equal in this respect, however!

[AdamSmith]

Thanks for getting this thread back on track, or rather on the track it perhaps should have been on. Not all guests are equal in this respect, however!

Wot u got against bath towels?

 

They important!

[mike carey]

Wot u got against bath towels?

Nuffink, [uSER=12155]@Dominiking[/uSER] just made me laugh.

[kewtex]

My dear mama, God love her, has two drawers full of table linens that she considers too good to use.

 

I used to keep my china, crystal, and flatware carefully stored under the stairs, waiting for the perfect occasion to be used. Then someone enlightened me that life wasn't a dress rehearsal. Now the stoneware is under the stairs.

 

I hope your mom will allow herself the pleasure of the good stuff before it's too late.

[Rudynate]

I used to keep my china, crystal, and flatware carefully stored under the stairs, waiting for the perfect occasion to be used. Then someone enlightened me that life wasn't a dress rehearsal. Now the stoneware is under the stairs.

 

I hope your mom will allow herself the pleasure of the good stuff before it's too late.

 

I have a great set of hand-decorated Bavarian porcelain that I bought in one of those hospital consignment stores. I let it sit in boxes for years and recently we've started using it when we have dinner parties. Its really a pleasure.

[BasketBaller]

I have a great set of hand-decorated Bavarian porcelain that I bought in one of those hospital consignment stores. I let it sit in boxes for years and recently we've started using it when we have dinner parties. Its really a pleasure.

We have wedding china, crystal, and silver we rarely used early on. But for some years we've brought it all out for holidays and birthdays. It makes more sense.

[Guest]

I will quote myself from the original post: ." I was fine with his using the guest towels (though he did not need to leave them on the floor but that is a separate issue).

I have been in a similar situation as a guest, but I have never used the guest towels.

So, in your mind, are guest towels for guests or are they for show. "

 

My question was really more the point that I do not use the "decorative" guest towels, do you?

So I am not sure that the Loony Tunes theme applies as you it seems you misread the post.

 

No, I don't use "decorative" guest towels, if by that you mean towels which aren't meant to be used. I mean, artwork for decoration, but towels? Although your post says "I was fine with his using the guest towels," you then immediately state that you would never do such a thing, which implies that you really weren't OK with it. Most other people responding to this string also got that impression. Were you really all riled up simply because he left the towels on the floor? If so, why did you mention his use of the guest towels in the first place? If the issue of the towels being left on the floor still has you upset by the time his next visit comes around, just say "When you're done with the towels, please put them in this hamper" or wherever it is you would like him to put the towels. I must say I'm amazed at all of the attention this string has received!

[craigville beach]

I have a great set of hand-decorated Bavarian porcelain that I bought in one of those hospital consignment stores. I let it sit in boxes for years and recently we've started using it when we have dinner parties. Its really a pleasure.

 

On the Antiques Roadshow, they are always telling people to use the things they bring. Use the china, silver, jewelry. Don't save it, enjoy it.

[AdamSmith]

(though he did not need to leave them on the floor but that is a separate issue).

This is to belabor what has likely already been said here, but some hotels have little instruction cards in the bathroom telling you to put the towel on the floor if you want it replaced by housekeeping. And not only hotels: when one of my ex-hubby's sisters and her family would visit us, they would all leave their towels on the floor after one use. They didn't reuse the next day, but instead used a new one each day. (They did do the towel laundry every other day to keep up with their use.)

 

So with some people, it is not sloppiness but rather a habit of (what they must think is) hygienic towel use.

[bigvalboy]

On the Antiques Roadshow, they are always telling people to use the things they bring. Use the china, silver, jewelry. Don't save it, enjoy it.

 

+1

 

I was having my jeweler clean a Rolex once, and was telling him that I rarely wear it, because of it's value. He asked me if I was saving it for the next owner. We both laughed. He said the same thing, "Don't save it, enjoy it" (OK back to monogrammed guest towels)