I recently had a couple of friends over for dinner (I know–shocker!). They had flown in to town as part vacation and part catching up with family as they were originally from Winnipeg, so it was a no brainer that we wanted to see them and since I cook, dinner was a given.
What wasn’t a given though was what they brought with them when they arrived at our house.
First off, a beautiful bouquet of flowers was presented along with a well chosen six-pack of beer and a lovely (read: no plonk) wine to boot.
Now you might be thinking why is this even note-worthy? Well, it is because it’s been a long time since we were given such a gift simply for cooking them dinner (well, not just any dinner . . .).
Considering the bouquet must have been in the $20 range and the wine and beer at $30+, it’s almost like they paid $60 to join our dinner table.
Wow. Just wow.
When I invite someone to join us for a meal, I generally provide all aspects of the meal from the first cocktail to the meal and digestive.
I think asking someone over to join you is saying that you have thought about the invitation, and would like to treat them to a nice meal and evening, no tips required.
Still, it was rather refreshing to see such a generous display on their part.
The next day I asked my wife to send her friend a note saying how nice it was to have them over and how much I appreciated what they brought for us.
The message she got in return was, “what do you mean? This was how we were raised. When someone goes through the trouble of sourcing, prepping and cooking a meal like that, it’s what you do to show the hosts you appreciate their effort.”
Nicely put.
With two young girls in the family and my penchant for doing all of the cooking, we don’t go to other people’s houses very often to be treated to a meal, so it’s been a very long time since I’ve had to think about what’s appropriate to bring for the hosts. That said, I think we’d do the same, or something very close.
What do you think?
Is said signs of appreciation going the way of the dinosaur or is this kind of thing alive and well?
