Just over a week ago, one of my Canal Place-mates threw a small pot luck dinner for our floor. Although he and I missed each other at a few points due to some holiday weekend traveling, we finally linked up yesterday (as I interpreted his open door to be the universal 'come-on-in' gesture) and I was able to pick up two plates that we had left at his place (hey, we had to go, but the stir-fried beef and rice still seemed to be a hit).
I apologized for the time that had lapsed between the party and the pick-up, but as I was doing it, he stopped me.
"Take a look at all of this," he said, and pointed to enough dinnerware left over to start a minor kitchen outfitting store. "All of these dishes are unclaimed and unaccounted for."
As you can imagine, this creates a potentially large (and certainly undeserved) burden -- someone who organized a get-together out of his and his wife's own kind, giving spirit is now burdened with a bunch of stuff that's in the dinnerware equivalent of limbo -- he can't get rid of them (hey, someone might suddenly want them back), he can't really use them (again, he's presumably got to keep them clean and ready for pick up), and he doesn't know how to return them (none are identified by owner). In a roomy but still finite-sized condo, they'll just occupy a small piece of the real estate for the indefinite time being.
He didn't really seem to worried about it, but on his behalf, I just wanted to announce this rule that would deserve at least a line somewhere near the back if Life came equipped with such a guide:
If you're going to attend a Pot Luck dinner at someone's house, either take your dinnerware with you when you go, or make arrangements with the host to pick it up later.
Any other course of action just makes a pain in the butt for the host, which just doesn't seem right.
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