Preliminary Finding on Family Hosting Marathon
The guests arrive Thursday. The last guest is scheduled to leave Sunday. Preliminary findings suggest this may be too many days.
Transcript: Preliminary Review of Extended Family Visit Hearing convened November 2022. The subject serves as both examiner and examined.
Q: When did the visit begin?
A: Thursday afternoon. The guests arrived at 3 PM. There were four of them.
Q: And when does the visit conclude?
A: Sunday. At some point. The departure time has not been confirmed. There is a flight. The flight is in the evening, which means Sunday will be a full day before the airport portion.
Q: How many days is that?
A: Four days. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and the first part of Sunday, which will function as a full day.
Q: How do you feel about four days?
A: Four days is a length of time I agreed to. It is also longer than three days.
Q: Can you describe the hosting infrastructure?
A: The air mattress is in the second bedroom. Extra towels are in the hall closet. Breakfast items were purchased in advance. Dinners have been planned through Saturday. Saturday's dinner involves a reservation that required booking three weeks prior, which is when the duration became a commitment rather than an estimate.
Q: What happens on day two?
A: Day two is when the infrastructure becomes visible to the people it was built for. Guests locate the coffee. Guests develop preferences about when the television is on. Guests ask questions about the neighborhood that require guided responses. Day two is also when the subject has been awake for two days performing hospitality, which is invisible work that accumulates without acknowledgment because it is expected.
Q: Do you want the guests here?
A: Yes.
Q: But?
A: The hosting is wanted, and the duration is the part that is not, and these two facts apply to the same event. There is no resolution to this. The guests are here. The duration is fixed. The reservation is made.
The Governing Rule
Family hosting duration is agreed to during a planning call in which goodwill is high and fatigue is abstract. The fatigue becomes concrete on day two. The goodwill remains. They coexist in the same house, which currently has four additional people in it.
Consequence
Eventually family hosting marathon acquires an unwritten enforcement system that everyone denies creating. Next year's visit is already being discussed. The subject has not said anything about duration. The subject is thinking about it.
Hearing Status
Adjourned. Sunday afternoon will resolve the open question.