My husband threw a bunch of papers and books into a little trash can one day then walked out of the room.
"Who do you think is going to empty that?" I inquired sweetly. "This isn't a Holiday Inn, you know. No one is going to magically appear and clean all this up after you."
Now that's one of our favorite phrases to use. My son drinks vast quantities of water and throws the bottles in his bedroom bin, and they pile up for years before anyone finds them.
My husband remonstrated with him one day. "This isn't a Holiday Inn, you know," I heard him say. (that made me smile; at least my husband has internalized my message)
But last night, my son filled his bin up to overflowing again. So he thought he'd be clever and write a note to go with it that he realized this wasn't a Holiday Inn but could I throw it away for him anyway? Of course I did and took a pic to show you.
9 comments:
My friend at work saw this and said she's going to tell her family that the house 'isn't a Novotel.' (European hotel chain)
But her husband dumps his clothes in the study. How should she handle that? Should she day, 'this isn't a dry cleaners? You must have mistaken the room?'
We have a 3 strikes and out rule in our house, if a toy is left on the stairs (after 2 warnings) its taken to the charity shop!
(doesn't make a blind bit of difference of course)
Dearest, Michael Thomas, I have the solution for you! Just fill a glass from the tap and drink that...no need to dispose of it, and better for the environment!
Brenda, Miguel will only drink sparkling water, hence the bottles.
Steve, it does seem heartless to throw the toys out -- what if they leave an Ipad on the stairs? will you send it to my house instead of the charity shop?:)
E, you're right, for certain things confiscation is preferable, it also depends on the amount of abject grovelling after the crime is committed ;)
I, too, prefer spakling water. However, toting 10 2-liter bottles from the store was a problem for my neck injury. We got a Sodastream machine in August and it paid for itself by October, Or sooner if I had fewer Dr. visits! You can make plain fizzy water, or add flavorings to make it taste like Coke, Sprite, Dr. pepper, etc. Saves on having to recycle all the bottles, too. I take the gas canister back to the store and get the next one 1/2 off. It's a great solution!
When I was a kid, my mum made me compete against my sister in "who can stomp on the empty plastic bottle and flatten it the most". This way it took much longer to fill the plastic recycle basket.
Another time, my sister tried to be smart and replied to the "this house is not an hotel" bit with a: "Really, I thought it was". My mum made her pay for the dinner. :-D
I guess "Holiday Inn" is indicative of the Blogmistress's background.
I remember when I first went to America in the 1980s, Holiday Inns were around $80/night. Way beyond my poor means, but Elizabeth (in her role as a doctor's daughter) had stayed there often, of course.
Maybe my version should be "This isn't Motel 6, you know" but it doesn't have quite the same ring.
Mel, I think in a Motel 6 you might have to empty your own wastebaskets... :)
And, realy, Holiday Inn is a very middle class motel chain, akin to Howard Johnsons or La Quinta, not on par with Hilton, Raddison or Sheraton hotels. We stayed at them a lot when I was growing up, too.
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