What was supposed to be a special anniversary weekend for this Salty Sixty and her husband, turned out to be anything but.

In an earlier blog, I mentioned a tradition that we had to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Our destination of choice is usually the beach. There is a winter fest which occurs around this same time every year and it coincides with our celebration. It has become our special little tradition. Unfortunately, this time around, it became a mirror of how inconsiderate and discourteous some people can be.

We are all for people having a good time. That’s something we enjoy also. The problem begins when you take that excessive fun time you’re having and inflicting it on others at the wrong time and place. Staying at a hotel is not like staying at your home! You have others around you who may not want to hear your loud crude cussing and laughing in the hallways outside their doors at 1:30 to 2:30 in the wee hours of the morning.

This is what happened to us. Without getting into the specifics to bore you, we decided that the second night of our stay would most likely be similar to the first night. Suffice it to say, we left and came home. Calling the front desk at the time of the commotion was not an option only because of the situation we would have been put in. We were surrounded by a block of rooms for an obviously rowdy bunch. Any complaint would have come back to us, since we were right there and the odd couple out.

My husband, being the gentleman he is, was losing his patience. It was not worth the risk of possible repercussions from this bunch of drunken hoodlums. Going to another room was out, since there were no other ones available. This group we encountered were part of a 600 person convention. Who knew? Not us.

At checkout we spoke to the manager who understood why we decided not to complain. He also was made aware of how many times we had stayed there, and never had a problem. This was the reason we always came back. We told him this was our anniversary tradition for at least 7 years now.  He promised to make amends and felt really bad since we left on our anniversary day.

As it turned out, upon coming home, we knew we had made the right decision. Anticipating the evening ahead if we had stayed, would’ve been stressful. Our daughter was able to get us dinner reservations at our favorite restaurant, upon our request. It just so happened that all the kids pitched in and got us a gift card to that same restaurant. The evening turned out wonderful!  As always, we had a great dinner and the atmosphere was the kind we enjoy.

Christmas time is meant for joyful celebrations and good times. The problem is some people think that they are the only ones around, and have no courtesy and manners towards others. This is a sad commentary to what is happening in our world today. Isn’t this supposed to be the time of year if any to behave like the civil society we propose to be?  Maybe I am living in a dream world. This weekend for us however, was not one of those worlds!