Super Hero Moments

[Sheila646]

I apologize in advance if this sounds like bragging. I've had a terrible, terrible day at work and then no heat in the rental on check in day, which happened to dawn at 1-degree Fahrenheit. (That is -17 C.) The work day is done, the heat is fixed, and the guest says she will be checking in late. Hurray the house will be warm by then.

On this crazy, hectic, bad news day I had set an appointment at the rental with a local arena owner. We've developed a working relationship and he sends me business regularly, but he's never seen the house. (The arena is a horse arena and event center.) I had invited him over on a check in day so he could see it in it's glory. I made it to the appointment just barely and spent the tour talking animatedly while I pulled dust covers off of furniture. That is not how I wanted to conduct the tour, but he was impressed just the same. 

Before he left, I asked if he had any events this weekend to which he replied, "Yes, but it's arena cross." (That is a racing sport with dirt bikes indoors.) I asked about how long it took to set up and he had his assistant show me a picture of the track they had built with twists and dirt mounds.

I told them my weekend guests are coming to town for the arena cross event, but I didn't know it was at their venue. Small world.

After they left, I tidied up and sent my guest the usual pre-arrival message letting her know that we are all ready and excited to see her. I mentioned I had seen a photo of the track. How exciting.

Here's where I got to have a serendipitous, amazing host moment. She wrote back that her son had been on Facebook all day looking for a photo of the track set up. He was really eager to see it. A couple of texts later, I was able to send her a photo.  What are the chances I would have access to that?! Answer: almost zero. It felt great to do something for someone, especially after such a tough day. I know it didn't take a lot of effort on my part, but there really is nothing like a thoughtful gesture.

So here I am patting myself on the back and telling you about it, because It rekindled my fire. Do you have moments to share when you wore your host superhero cape?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Sheila646 Thanks for the temperature conversion. I made a mistake years ago when researching a 3 year secondment to Connecticut from the UK. I checked the weather and found that it rarely drops below zero so thought that was OK. Sadly 0 Fahrenheit turns out to be rather chilly!!!

[Sheila646]

I can imagine that was a not a pleasant surprise. 

Years ago I was organizing a conference for work and was asked about hotel room bed types by a guest from England. I realized that the terms we use in the U.S. to describe mattress sizes may not be the same. In fact it turns out the measurements are different too. I sent him the measurements in centimeters rather than confusing him with American jargon. He may have traveled enough in the U.S. to have known what I meant without the measurements, but one never knows.

[Trude0]

What a great ending to your challenging day! 

As you say, it was a bit of a lucky chance. That you just happened to have that photo, that meant a lot to your guest. But a wise man* once said:  ”I don’t  know anything about luck, but that the harder I train, the luckier I get.”

*) Swedish former World Cup alpine ski racer, active 1974-1989. Apparently, this was his response to a sports journalist, mentioning something about luck being on Stenmark’s side these days. (He was/is a man of few words, and this was a looong sentence from him.)

I don’t know about ”superhero cape”, but I had a bit of luck recently, too: 

I was awaiting a German couple, who were to check in on Friday. Early in the week, I was communicating with my guest, who asked for recommendations for Christmas markets in Stockholm. She wrote this:

I told her that unfortunately, most of the snow from the latest snowfall had melted, but fingers crossed... The weather forecast showed cold weather, but no signs of new snow (did not mention this…).

I’m not a religious person, but sent a prayer to the ”weather God”: ”Come on, the guests want snow, it’s December in Sweden, surely you can do better than this?!?”. The evening before check in, there was still no snow in the weather forecast. But on check in day, I woke up to…SNOW! Sent a couple of early morning photos to the guest, who was thrilled. And it just kept snowing that day, so by the time they arrived, there was a lot more.

I have many talents 😉, but producing snow is not one of them. 

But I guess sometimes we deserve a bit of luck? 

[Sheila646]

That is wonderful!

[Bhumika]

Hello @Sheila646 ,

Thanks for sharing this with us🌻 Truly, what a good end to a tiring day! Gratitude☀️

We're happy to announce the Month of Celebration!

Can’t find what you’re searching for? start a conversation