I Speak On Behalf Of . . .

Being an innkeeper has opened my eyes to a lot of things that I never really noticed before. For instance, quite a few people travel in groups, be they family situations or just long-time friends who like to vacation together. I think that’s neat. I don’t remember my family ever traveling with any other family or friends, other than mom, dad, me and my older brother. I guess on occasion we’d include an aunt or uncle and cousins, but usually it was just the four of us.

But, it’s fairly often that we get couples traveling together through Vicksburg.

My observation has been that there is always a ringleader in these traveling groups. I suppose someone must take the lead in planning and such, but sometimes I see this leadership thing taken a bit too far, in my humble opinion.

A prime example of this happened this past week at the Baer House Inn. A husband and wife were traveling with their adult son. They booked two rooms and traveled in the same vehicle. However, mother held all the precious plans in her tightly fisted hand. When questioned about where they were going, or what they planned on doing while in Vicksburg, both father and son deferred to the mother. I’m not even sure those poor fellows knew what they were in for each day.

I’ve seen this scenario several times, where one person seems to have memorized the entire agenda and the others seem okay to simply follow along. But, sometimes, it goes beyond this realm into a whole different level of leadership. Oft times when I ask guests if they’d like orange juice with their breakfast, the ringleader(s) will reply on behalf of the whole group. Really? Are these people not capable of making up their own minds about whether or not they want to drink juice?

I usually ask, the night before (so I can be ready in the morning) if anyone drinks decaf coffee. It’s not our norm to brew decaf, but sometimes people like to drink it, so I ask if there are any decaf drinkers. It seems like the designated spokesperson for the whole group is the only person capable of answering this question. And, usually it’s not even the decaf drinker who responds in the affirmative; it’s the spokesperson who acknowledges that so-and-so would like to have decaf.

This past week we had a trio traveling together (long time friends) and one of them never spoke, even when asked a direct question. Now, I get that there are very shy and extremely introverted people out there in this big crazy world, but I think even those persons should be capable of answering a direct question like “Do you need help getting your luggage upstairs?” I know that this person could speak because I heard him talking, but whenever he was with “the others,” he remained mute and simply let them do the talking for the entire group. The spokesperson, however, went so far as to commit this poor fellow to carrying all of the luggage for the entire group upstairs to their rooms. When asked, she said, “No, so-and-so can handle it.” Poor so-and-so. He probably would have taken me up on my offer to help had he been able to answer the question instead of the ringleader answering for them.

I usually make an extra effort to address each guest individually and to remember their names because I think that’s sot a lot to do with what sets apart a good stay from a great stay. I introduce myself, make eye contact, and shake their hand. On one occasion, the spokesperson for the group pointed out each person as he introduced them. They didn’t even get to state their name. Weird I thought, but they all seemed okay to let him do the talking.

The only time I purposely address the spokesperson on behalf of the entire group, is when we have a group of foreigners and the ringleader is the person most able to communicate in English. On such occasions, I still try to include everyone in the conversation and to make them feel welcome, but I don’t mind so much if the spokesperson does all the talking. That just makes my life a whole lot easier. Otherwise, I feel like I’m playing charades or trying to talk to a deaf person with all the pointing and gesturing and such. That’s just awkward.

Anyway, that’s my thoughts for this week. I find this business of innkeeping very eye opening.

So tell me dear readers, do you serve as the spokesperson for your group? Do you let others speak on your behalf? Do you know any ringleaders?

Word of the day: Numismatic

Fun fact about me: I guess I’m the ringleader when my husband and I go anywhere since I’m usually the one making all the plans. I do let him order his own food and such though. I’m not that bad.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, May 2016. Photos courtesy Google Images.