Completed What Not To Do As A Hostess Pt. 2

[Tazrae]

Timestamp: The 11th of Fall, 512 A.V.

Continued From: What Not To Do As A Hostess Pt. 1

Sometimes it’s not appropriate or possible to let guests help, the young Innkeeper knew. That was fine. But if that’s the case, Tazrae knew she had to cut down her own load by recruiting local businesses to pitch in like say baking extra bread or making additional confections to save herself some time. Taz wasn’t above calling in favors and involving other people that benefitted from the added work. Syka was a close-knit community. Extra hands were usually about.

The Innkeeper put all these thoughts into her journal, making sure the section for item thirteen was very fleshed out and filled with examples. By then, she was tired of writing again, and wanted a break. She needed to move – to wander – before she continued on with the project.

Moving on as she decided to, Taz stood up and stretched. She did a quick walking loop of the Inn, pacing the length of the deck and staring momentarily out at the setting sun. She still had more to add to the journal, but her fingers needed a break and she was starting to get a writer’s cramp in her hand. Tazrae liked the long walk, detouring through the Reptile Garden to check on the snakes and taking the time to fill the birdseed in the feeders scattered all over her yard. She threw scratch to the chickens, tucked them in by shutting the coup uptight after they were done scrambling for their corn, and headed back inside.

The dishes from the guest's dinner hour were piled dirty and high next to her sink. Tazrae sighed and drew a large cauldron of water from the pump inside the kitchen next to the sink. She hung it over the hearth fire, which she stoked, and let it begin heating. She’d wash up the dishes really fast. It gave her the inspiration for her next entry. Fortunately, large kettles took a while to heat, so that gave Tazrae time to add in her next “What Not To Do As A Hostess” entry.

14. Leave The Clean Up Until The Next Day. (No! Clean as you go. Completely clean up directly after the event!)

No one wants the party scene where dirty glasses and plates were littered all over a location the next day. It creates a dread no hostess should have to face. A person should throw a party and after the party is over have the cleanup well in hand as to not dread the work the next day. Doing so would really limit her ability to want or in fact be able to plan more events at The Protea. And even today, she had the leftovers of the last meal she’d prepared or her guests waiting on her attention. Having the dinner rush dishes piled up reminded the young Innkeeper of that fact.

Tazrae had experienced the next day dread first hand and hated it. It had been one of her mother’s common tactics. Only the next day after their small Riverfall Inn had held an event, her mother had never lifted a finger to help with the cleanup. That had all been on Tazrae. So, it had in many ways embittered the woman against being lazy post-party. The best course of action was to clean as the event unfolded and then to do the majority of the work directly after the last guest had left or retired. Some guests even liked to help clean up and that was absolutely fine etiquette for a hostess to say thank you and let them pitch in.

[Tazrae]

Tazrae sat down to fill out a few more sections and worked on this thought, writing in line after line of text directly under the section about cleanup. She added in how surprised one would be to see how quickly the job got done if it was kept up after as the event unfolded and anyone who wanted to help at the end of the night did so. Over the course of the day at an Inn like Tazrae’s… every time someone placed a soiled towel or linens in a laundry basket to be washed, it helped get the rooms cleaner faster.

Taz wrote for a good fifteen chimes before she had her thoughts on paper and was able to hear the pot of water actually boiling. She transferred the pot to the sink, emptying its contents into the wash basin where she added soap and began washing the dishes in earnest. The task took time but that gave her a chance to think on her next entry. She’d made some grand mistakes as a new Innkeeper so there was no lack of fodder for what not to do.

Once she was done and the dishes neatly dried and tucked away in their cupboards, Taz returned to her writing, adding the next notation in her book.

15. Never Allow Guests Privacy. (Wrong! Allow them all kinds of privacy and never pry.)

People of all sorts needed all kinds of privacy. Sometimes they needed a quiet place to talk with someone that was accompanying them on their travels. These bonding events were important for people who traveled with each other. They often comforted and buoyed up each other in terms of what they were willing to do in the name o a vacation and what they thought was frivolous. She’d ran across people that needed to slip out in the middle of a multiple course meal or slept a great deal… sometimes late into the afternoon. The examples were endless. Sometimes people didn’t want to share a meal with others. Sometimes racial requirements demanded specific food – The Symenestra’s liquid diet for example – and they wanted privacy to dine.

Tazrae spent time writing about this, talking about how it was never a hosts business as to the why of anything. Basically, asking uncomfortable questions was just thinly veiled prying. Things happened…. People arrived late but if a small questionnaire was gifted the guest to fill out before they actually moved into the Inn for a period – a lot of problems were solved ahead of time. Tazrae always required names, permanent addresses, and such light information as to the number of people in their traveling group… any pets, special needs, or unique requests. Taz didn’t hesitate to ask people if they wanted things a certain way and she made sure the guests had it. Attention to detail was everything and it made people feel special.

[Tazrae]

It was time for more ‘What Not To Do’ advice. Tazrae had another big one she wanted to get into her journal. It was a mistake her mother had made over and over again. People loved and gravitated towards who they wanted to regardless of outside interference. And if someone was around and trying to throw people together, it made the situation often awkward and uncomfortable which was NOT what an Innkeeper wanted their atmosphere to be like. So Taz smiled slightly and added in her next bullet point.

16. Play Matchmaker (Never Do this!)

Tazrae had learned by watching her mother that forcing two singular people together did not often end well. Her mother would all but force them to relate to one another by leading conversations with “So and so likes this…. don’t you enjoy that too?” It was a thinly veiled way for Estra to act like she was Cheva herself and throw two single people together … often two people that had nothing in common but the fact they were single. Tazrae had hated every last moment of her mother’s meddling. It was embarrassing for her personally, and it often made the guests extremely uncomfortable which shouldn’t ever be the goal. So Tazrae thought that was definitely one of the worst things an Innkeeper could do – play Matchmaker.

For this section, she had a lot of material to write about. There were examples galore from her mother’s antics – including trying to fix Tazrae up herself – in Riverfall. So the hardest thing was to pare down the examples until she had a cohesive picture painted for someone wanting to learn. Taz was finding herself enjoying the writing. It gave her an outlet for her ideas and made her head feel less full of thoughts. And yet here her thoughts were, readily accessible by anyone with a mind to borrow the journal. It might be all garbage, but Taz knew it would be useful if people could read her handwriting and understand what she was trying to convey.

There was more Tazrae wanted to add to the journal that was fast becoming her manual on Hostessing. She re-dipped her quill and began a section sixteen.

17. Refuse To Relax And Unwind. (Innkeepers need to relax and unwind DAILY.)

There is an art form to relaxing and unwinding while still being a hostess. Many people automatically think this means AFTER the events and guests have quieted for the night or before they arise in the morning. And while that is true enough, one thing Tazrae had found important in her doings as an Innkeeper was to relax and unwind DURING events. People needed breaks, especially the hostess. One needed to participate in the fun as much as the guests did. Otherwise, after a time the fun would become a drag and chore, and overburdened Innkeepers had no place playing hostess in that state of mind. So Tazrae had learned, not actually the hard way, to let her hair down, kick off her shoes under the dinner table, and to schedule events in such a way as she could participate. She often poured herself a glass of wine along with everyone else and treat people like they were dear friends even if she’d just met them.

Guests were a blessing, so to keep them in that frame of mind in her conscious… she arranged events so that she had enough time to cook, partake of the food, and get a chance to take her turn on the mandolin or singing up on the makeshift stage when one was erected. She’d often recruit guests to haul things down to the beach ahead of time so I there was a bonfire event the kegs of drink would be in place and all the fixings for campfire snacks would be in place so she could enjoy the event without constantly running back and forth to the Inn along the trail to the beach.

[Tazrae]

When things weren’t ideal, Taz wrote, manipulate them so they would be. That was another key concept in Tazrae’s do-not list.

18. Loose Control. (Always control an event!)

Tazrae never let anyone take control of her events if she could help it. She planned them down to the last chime without being completely inflexible… yet another rule she’d get to next. The Innkeeper dipped her pen and began writing in earnest. There were always those party crashers that came just for the liquor, but she knew how to circumvent that as well. First and foremost, she knew the key to keeping control of an event as a hostess was to be clear about what the event was for, what people are celebrating, and who she was inviting. Tazrae had no problem keeping in-house events for guests only... and planning outside events for everyone else and keeping the lines drawn in the sand. But when alcohol was involved, she knew things could get out of control. Sometimes this involved keeping a few members of the party sober to help keep things in line, and to serve hearty food to counter any overindulging people might have done.

No one wanted a hostess that cut off those that they were drinking too much, but there were tricks Tazrae could do to cut down on the intoxication. First and foremost, she made sure the water was free-flowing and tasty – flavored with fruits. Secondly, most people counted the number of drinks they’d had, rather than the strength of those drinks. So Tazrae simply made cocktails that were light in alcohol or were considered singles. She never doubled up drinks, over-poured, or and provided a ton of non-alcoholic drinks that were as interesting or more interesting than the alcohol. Taz let her creative cooking shine through with the drinks, adding all kinds of exotic fruits from Syka.

She wrote a bit longer on the topic, giving some more thought on how to utilize the designated sober guests and how to get everyone home or to their rooms safely afterward. But her bottom line was simple. She was not a parent and she was not the keeper of the people she hosted. That made a firm line where she didn’t cross. Once she had that idea down, she rolled out one of her last “What Not To Do” points.

The young woman was acutely aware that no matter how well something was planned, it didn’t mean things would go exactly as they had been envisioned. Life reflected that as well, changing day to day and even sometimes chime to chime. An outing to a park or monument…. could be ruined by an intense downpour of rain that lasted far longer than Syka’s usual half bell frequent watering. Such events required a last-minute location change. A crab trap failing to produce crab often meant a last-minute menu change.

The change was part of an Innkeepers's life. Guests were never the same. Guests ended up cutting their stays short or extending their stays longer. And if a guest was already occupying a room in an Inn that was booked with reservations, what did one do? Taz had prepared for and experienced that. She had extremely nice tents to go outside to house people that didn’t mind a bit of ‘extra’ on their vacation.

[Tazrae]

So for the next and last ‘What Not To Do’ , Tazrae simply wrote down the phrase ‘Be Inflexible’.

19. Be Inflexible. (Wrong… Innkeepers and Hostesses need all the flexibility in the world.)

The unpredictability in life always needed to be accounted for. The key to surviving this was being flexible. Be prepared to add another one or two seats at the table for unexpected guests. Sometimes those fully booked brought tag-along. Always have more food on hand to prepare last-minute meals or to add a few more dinner guests. Have alternative housing if your rooms book up and there are still more guests you want to seat. Tazrae kept tents around for that purpose, because sleeping on the beach in a tropical paradise was usually no chore.

The young Innkeeper kept writing, adding more to the section and filling in the pages left in the journal with the experiences she’d shared. It was a snapshot into her life. It was a window into what motivated her and how she thought. Taz quickly filled the remainder of the pages with some last-minute hostessing advice that hadn’t already been covered in the sections at the front of the journal.

It wasn’t something she could be super proud of. Tazrae was no great author or even a great thinker that had mind-blowing information on how to be the best host possible. Instead, she had simple practical advice to offer that she laid out in a careful concise way. But it was done finally… from the front cover to the back. And she was ready to set it aside and maybe take her own advice. Now that she didn’t have Inn payments to make, she could afford help and that was a firm decision writing all her advice down had reinforced into her. If she added her own apartment onto the Inn as she wanted to, and perhaps a few rooms on either side of the L…. then she’d be large enough to need more help. So it was better to hire sooner than later.

Decision made, Taz placed the journal up on her bookshelf and smiled to herself. Tomorrow she’d head to town and post some fliers… maybe even talk to James about getting someone hired in Riverfall to come here. And she’d hit the Outpost because taking her own advice she definitely needed a few games for the common room. That would not go amiss. Chess, checkers, and perhaps even some dicing games would work really well, along with a few decks of cards.

Before she completely left the journal alone, she added one more number.

20. All The Rules Are Subject To Change At Any Time

Word Count: 2738