Being Very Quiet in the Holiday Inn Express

When we travel to a town my husband works in regularly in South Dakota, we always stay at the holiday inn express. It’s like a mini-vacation for me. It’s quiet and nice. We eat their breakfast, then he goes to work and I work on my laptop in the hotel room. We have lunch together then he goes back to work and I work on a sewing project. It’s a lovely routine. I haven’t let much distract me this week and have gotten a lot done.

This afternoon something was not normal. The family from hell was in the room next door. The children seemed to not be told to keep their voices down as they came and went frequently, slamming the door. Loudly! I stewed. What to do? Complain? Ignore? I couldn’t stand it anymore so I slammed our room door a few times. I don’t think they noticed.

I decided to go to the pool to escape. It seemed to be full of the family from hell’s relatives: mostly children with a few odd adults in attendance. I gamely got in the pool and swam a few short laps. The water was nice and cool. The hot tub was empty so I climbed into it next. Then a VERY large man came toward it bellowing, BELLOWING that he was getting in the spa. I watched the water level to see how much it rose as he got in.

As soon as I could politely exit, I did. I sat at a table to read and dry off a little. A plump little girl, probably about 8, wearing a bright bikini and a somber face, approached.
“I threw up in there,” she said, gesturing toward the pool. She did not look like she was joking.
“You did?” I said, being equally serious. “Did you tell anybody about that?” She mumbled something I didn’t catch and walked away.
Eeuuuwww. I stopped by the front desk on my way back to the room to shower. I told the very pretty smiling clerk what the little girl had told me. “I thought you might like to know,” I said. “You know, add lots of chemicals.”
“Chemicals, yes!” She nodded and kept grinning, a bit determinedly.

Now I know there are worse things than listening to the family from hell next door (perhaps swimming with them). I’m going to be very quiet now – it’s almost Friday….
—30—
I’m reading a fun book this week: The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson. It often made me laugh out loud (even at the pool BEFORE my conversation with the little girl…) and any book that can do that is recommendable. Another very pleasant thing about being here is the morning delivery of the Writer's Almanac by Garrison Keillor on the local NPR station. Hearing Garrison read it is best, you can do that here.