Please take this 2-minute HOSPITALITY TEST,

[AirAmFan]

and post your score.

You've lived along an isolated stretch of two-lane desert road for the past ten years. Your 3-bedroom ranch house is the only building for 15 miles in any direction. It's 10:30 pm one Saturday evening, and your car won't get back from the repair shop until Tuesday.

Your doorbell rings. Looking through the peephole, you see an extremely well-dressed stranger. You put on the safety-chain and open the door three inches. Now, besides the person you saw throught the peephole, you also see a cute little girl about seven years old, with two blonde pigtails.

STRANGER: "I'm sorry to bother you. My granddaughter and I were driving to _____, but we got lost. Then our car broke down. My BMW is about half a mile up the road. There was a loud grinding sound, then lots of smoke. May we have some water, and would you call a tow truck for us?"

LITTLE GIRL, whispering loudly to her grandparent: "I have to go to the bathroom!"

ANSWER YES OR NO TO THE FOLLOWING THREE QUESTIONS:

(1) Do you invite them into your home?

IF "YES" to (1): You know from experience that the earliest anyone might dispatch a towtruck to your stretch of desert is tomorrow morning.

(2) Do you offer them your guest bedroom for the night?

IF "YES" to (1) and (2): In the morning, you ask the stranger if there's anything they might need. The answer is, "Yes. Do you have a toothbrush we might use? It doesn't have to be new--we'll hold it under the hot water for a minute." You don't have any toothbrush readily available except the one you've been using for the past six months.

(3) Do you go get your toothbrush and give it to the stranger?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

PART TWO:

Everything is the same as outlined above, except the stranger and the little girl are African-American, rather than white. Be honest:

(4) Do you invite them into your home?

IF "YES" to (4):

(5) Do you offer them your guest bedroom for the night?

IF "YES" to (4) and (5):
(6) Do you go get your toothbrush and give it to the stranger?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SCORING:

Each "NO" answer is worth zero points. Give yourself points
for each "YES" answer according to the following schedule:

Question (1): 1 point
(2) 2 points
(3) 4
(4) 8
(5) 16
(6) 32

Into which category does your score fall?

--Zero points
--One point
--Two points
--Three
--Seven
--Eight or more?

[DistantWind88]

1. I got 27

I'd explain about the toothbrush being my only one. Some things I'm just not gonna share with strangers.

[qazplm]

2. they can stay the night

and have any food or needs they want.

But I DO draw the line at the toothbrush!

;)

[DireStrike]

3. Everything except the toothbrush.

I hardly think it needs to be said that this goes for both pairs of people.

[Hollowkatt]

7. If they don't mind,

I can always go and get another toothbrush later.

[REP]

4. I'm Not Letting Either Pair In

Has nothing to do with race. I don't let strangers in my house, ever.

[izzie]

8. I have done things like this but I would not do it now.

Maybe I have heard to many bad things.

[REP]

9. Sounds Like a Set-Up With Either Pair, For One

What could be more harmless than a widdle girl and an old man? Sure, why not let them in, let them see what you have ... they probably aren't casing the joint, even though that is a pretty classic set-up.

I'd call them a tow truck and a cab, and give them something to drink, but unfortunately, it's not safe these days to let *anyone* you don't know in your house, especially if you're a woman and/or disabled and/or elderly.

[AirAmFan]

10. I didn't say the stranger was a man. Would it make a difference to you

if the stranger were female and in her seventies?

[DireStrike]

11. Interesting... I assumed it was a man also. -nt-

[diddlysquat]

5. This is not a "hospitality" test!

Are you assuming that the owner of the house is male? I would NEVER invite a man into my home (as a female living alone). that would be just plain stupid. I could call for help for them but not to have them in. Sharing the toothbrush puts everyone at risk. That is also not "hospitality".

[sweetheart]

6. 32 and a toothbrush collection

Once had a marital spat about toothbrushes, as i simply grab the nearest
one, and appearantly used the "holy" one reserved for SO... but, in keeping
order in the house, my toothbrush was organized away that i myself
can never find the bloody thing... well... after a short spat, i went
to the shop and bought 20 toothbrushes and they're lavished all over
the bloody house... problem sorted. :-)

You din't say, but i'd ask them if they needed "B&B" and say that
i usually charged a few bucks for washing sheets and all... just so
as the persons treat my home with some respect. By asking for a few
bucks indirectly, i would try to make them feel more at ease, as
when everything's free, people actually wonder if there is another
wierd thing involved, like midnight sex or some such... and i won't
have anyone in my home that gives me a weird vibe of distrust like
that, as there is never ever any distrust in my home... ever.

[windlight]

12. I've

let an old Stinky guy sleep at my place one night... he needed a warm place to stay and was heading further west in the morning so i let him sleep and gave him a few bucks in the morning to help him along... Of course i found he swiped a few cheap things but oh well...:)... but a well dress people... I wonder about them...;)... in this set up i think i would draw the line at the Toothbrush no matter who you are...