We all know the phenomenon of the afterglow of a good vacation or even a brief visit to a friend's house. But think of the people on the other side of the equation. They have to clean up after you've left. They are in their own melieu and thus haven't really experienced much of a new context or seen anything novel except maybe your face. For them, there is no afterglow. All too soon, they are caught up in their routine and your visit has faded beyond memory.
But you can make your visit more memorable for your hosts by using these simple tips: (Feel free to add your own favorites).
1. Shave. Especially if you shave someplace strange like over the T.V., your little hairs will serve as a continual reminder of your visit for months to come.
2. Break something and prop it up so they won't notice immediately. Chances are, they'll never know it was you, but they'll wonder. And that'll bring back all those memories. Good times.
3. Take something. A little momento can also help you remember what fine hosts they were. But the absence of some treasure is a lot less noticeable than its presence, so as with #2, they may not even know you took it, it'll just be gone. But they'll WONDER if you took and that's all the momento they'll need.
4. Write your name on the underside of their dining room table, or the back of the fridge. They'll notice someday...eventually... and there you'll be!
5. Leave a dark stain on the carpet, or burn a hole in the couch. Something more or less permanent that they can point to and say "Bob was here!"
6. Rearrange their cabinets. I like this one particularly because cabinet organization is a skill of mine. They are likely to simply leave the cabinets as I've set them up. And then, eventually even forget that the arrangment wasn't their idea. But there I am, having altered their daily lives forever.
7. Leave an IOU at the bottom of a bottle of pills. This is especially effective if the presciption was for something slightly embarrassing and they'd actually taken some pains to hide from you (because they knew from previous visits that you were likely to go through the regular places like the medicine cabinet and the inside of the toiet tank).
8. Drug their pets (or the kids if there aren't any pets) on the way out the door. People tend to remember the exact day and time that their pets (or kids) started acting really funny. And, in all likelihood, they'll remember it as "just after <insert your name here> left."
9. Leave behind seemingly valuable items of yours that aren't worth the cost of mailing but are too nice to just throw away. Try to pick things in the $10 range for this or the equation becomes skewed and they'll either insist on mailing the thing back to you (which they'll remember you for anyway, but not for as long a period), or they'll just chuck the item because it is so common and inexpensive. What you are going for is stuff they'll hang onto for you, but then have the nuisance factor of actually hanging onto it for you, or alternatively, stuff they'll just use because it's nice and you'll say "keep it" when they call to say you've left it behind. Bulky items tend to work a little better because they are such a pain to mail. Examples: A bowling pin. A string of chili pepper-shaped Christmas lights.
10: Carve your initials in the soap. This isn't quite so lasting as some of the other ideas, but it'll be surprising enough that they'll probably puzzle over it and mention it in conversations for years to come.
[ November 30, 2003, 04:34 PM: Message edited by: Bob_Scopatz ]
Posted by WheatPuppet (Member # 5142) on :
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Poor Caleb.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Yeah, yeah...poor Caleb. He didn't have any pets. Or kids. So I wasn't able to implement that one.
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
Don't forget that you can leave...boogers.
Posted by tabithecat (Member # 5228) on :
you can also tempt your host with popcorn. whereby insuring that your host/co host will have those little husks stuck in their teeth and gums for days, even weeks, sometimes. You can know that you've gotten under their skin and they just can't stop thinking about you...... with every pick, brush, floss and rinse! Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I babysat a friend's kids on Tuesday, and she called me Friday to let me know her daughter had had the flu. My son was acting a little funny... so that's always a lovely host gift.
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
nah...boogers are no fun. after a while they dry up and fall off, and nobody notices them.
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
Clogging the toilet just before you leave and not telling them is good.
Posted by Nick (Member # 4311) on :
quote: nah...boogers are no fun. after a while they dry up and fall off, and nobody notices them.
Speaking from experience? Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
Yeah. I don't dust the bottoms of tabletops anymore.
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
quote: Clogging the toilet just before you leave and not telling them is good.
When I first read that I saw "Cleaning the toilet just before you leave and not telling them is good. "
I thought, Wow, Dead_Horse is such a considerate house guest.... Maybe not.
(I'm having one of those days where it feels like I'm perceiving everything through cotton wool. It's an effort to type.)
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
Me, too. Every time I read eslaine's thread title I wonder who took the moon and how we are supposed to give it back.
Posted by jexx (Member # 3450) on :
Leave half a bottle of diet soda in the fridge of people who do not drink diet soda. Make sure it is the extra-caffeinated kind (like Diet Mountain Dew). If all goes according to plan, the responsible one in the house will leave for a couple of days, and the irresponsible one will give the extra-caffeinated diet soda to the five-year-old.
*shakes fist at mack*
Yes, yet another thing to blame on her. Posted by Julie (Member # 5580) on :
quote: A bowling pin.
Because everyone owns a bowling pin!
Posted by LadyDove (Member # 3000) on :
and travels with said bowling pin!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
You don't?
What's that behind my back? Oh, nothing, really . . .
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
You could always acquire the bowling pin DURING your visit.
"Hey guys, wanna go shopping?"
Then you take them on a 3 day quest to find a bowling pin, which you leave behind in their place as a momento.
Tabithecat: I thought about the popcorn thing, but I didn't really think you and Caleb got to eat very much of it. It was MINE...all mine!!!
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
I'm pretty sure a bowling pin left at my place would get thrown out in short order. The only reason I still have my bowling pin is because it's a memento from a trip I took in high school and I forbade my wife to get rid of it. Of course, she in turn forbade me to keep it in any place where it could be seen by humans.
I have a friend who likes to move little bric-a-brac around when he visits. We often go weeks without noticing his handiwork.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
My siblings like to write quasi-suggestive verse with the magnetic poetry on my fridge.
I have to check it before I have parishioners (or worse, the youth group) over.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Step on your future sister-in-law's cat. Break its leg. Which then spurs a furious row between her and the man you want to marry. Such row can last years, and be traced back to this visit.
(this really happened)
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Poor Jenny.
Note to self: Reconsider inviting Bob to house. Visit him instead.
If I do have Bob over, it will be many times. Hey, one bowling pin is useless. With 3 you can juggle. With 10 you can open up your own alley.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Silly Dan. You think they would all match?
Posted by Lissande (Member # 350) on :
When we visit my grandmother's house, one of us always does the dishes. As it happens, however, we don't really know where she keeps everything, so we just put things in whichever cabinet we feel is appropriate at that moment. She thinks of us for weeks after each visit, I believe. Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Saxon... lots of people say they would throw out bowling pins, but nobody actually ever does. It might show up on e-bay though.
dkw... I can picture your brother and sister doing this.
Jenny... cats are at the root of most familial discord in the world. I think you should give the woman kittens. Lots of kittens.
Dan... I will stop visiting you when you have just 9 pins in the collection. You'll think of me often. Of course, you and 3 friends could juggle...
Lissande... that's pretty funny. I like it!
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
Bob, if you ever come visit SoCal, be sure to tell that to my wife.
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
quote:My siblings like to write quasi-suggestive verse with the magnetic poetry on my fridge.
People used to do this to me too. However it can backfire when one friend (unknown to me) writes a very very angry and somewhat vindictive poem about another friend, who has just broken up with them after a 5 year relationship, and said other friend comes to visit, reads poem and bursts into tears....
On the other hand, my Dad once stuck 'not a blue pole' on grey steel support pole that holds up my roof. I kept that there for months, I thought it was kinda funny.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Messing with your host's kid's head is a great way to make yourself remembered.
And dinosaur pills.
I've got him addicted!
Posted by Centurion (Member # 3956) on :
People know that I normally travel armed.
Leave a live round under the sofa cushions, or put a hole in the screen in their bathroom and a shell casing on the floor by the toilet.
For some reason that seems to have friends and family calling my machine for weeks. Posted by jehovoid (Member # 2014) on :
Or leave a note on the counter:
"I borrowed your house key so I could get a copy made. Hope you don't mind."
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What's that behind my back? Oh, nothing, really . . .
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(this really happened)
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