Thanks for the hospitality.

This week, I've finally settled down at my aunt's house, the place that I will be residing for the rest of the summer. Following finals, instead of going straight home like so many of my peers, I've been traveling up and down the east coast for the past thirty something days, sleeping at a new place every couple of nights. Given that I'm a college student who doesn't have a lot of money, I've been frequently playing my familiar role as a "couch surfer."


A couch surfer, for those who are unfamiliar with the the term, is a person who spends nights at friends' and families' homes. Although the term "couch surfing" often results in the couch surfer sleeping on, as the term describes, a couch, it does not necessarily mean the surfer has to sleep on the couch. Floors, basements, guestrooms, air mattresses, futons--they're all game. As couch surfers we are still humans, and thus require food in addition to a place to sleep. In essence, couch surfers depend on the selflessness, and hospitality of one's family and close friends. 


My friends and families have gone above and beyond my couch surfing expectations in providing me hospitality over the years. I have people that not only want me to stay with them, but they will do anything to make sure that I do. I have families that ask me to stay the night the day I see them and other families who want me to spend the night even though I haven't seen them in five years. I've had experiences where a friend has sacrificed his own bed so I could sleep in it and another where a friend insists that I sleep on his little brother's bed--and that they'll move him to another room. I've had a friend who helped me crash in his girlfriend's (whom I had never previously met) room because there were extra mattresses there. I have people that are willing to host me despite the fact they'll be working throughout the day and they won't be there when I wake up, because they know I need the place to crash. I know families who get mad at me for asking them if I can spend the night, because I should know that their doors are always open for me. 


The hospitality I've received while couch surfing made me realize how fortunate and grateful I am to have the friends and family who have supported me when I needed them the most, not just this past month, but throughout my lifetime. My friends and family continue to find new ways to amaze me, in ways that far exceed a simple invitation to let me sleep on their couch. But for anyone who has ever opened up their home to me, I'd just like to say,


Thanks for the hospitality. 


--JTF