Sara and Jenny were housemates. They lived in a modest apartment with two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and one bathroom. They’d been housemates for a year or so. They found each other through Craigslist and it was working. They liked each other, occasionally shared a meal, and knew lots about each others’ lives. So Jenny knew that Sara was really excited about a big family wedding coming up that was happening in their city. The wedding involved a Friday night rehearsal dinner, a morning ceremony followed by a catered lunch, and dinner and dancing on a boat in the harbor. One day Sara announced to Jenny that her brother, Peter, would be staying with them for the wedding. That was fine with Jenny, they’d both had friends sleep on the living room couch before.
The big weekend came. Peter had a six-hour drive to get there and got stuck in Friday traffic. Cell phone calls back and forth. He finally arrived bearing gifts, including a fish he had caught the previous day. They threw it in the fridge, he changed into nice clothes as fast as he could, and off they went to the rehearsal dinner. They had a fine time. They got home late, after Jenny was in bed. She heard them but just rolled over and went back to sleep.
In the morning, Jenny tip-toed past Peter sleeping on the couch and went into the kitchen to make coffee and start her day. Eventually Sara and then Peter woke up and joined her. They had a nice visit, and then went their separate ways for the day and evening. Jenny was in bed when she was woken up by loud voices. Sara and Peter had brought home their cousins after the wedding. Naturally they’d been doing some drinking and they were a bit raucous. Jenny smiled, thought about joining them, and rolled over instead.
In the morning, Jenny tip-toed past Peter to get to the kitchen. Both the living room and the kitchen were rather a mess, there were empty bottles and used glasses on various surfaces. It looked like they’d had an ice cream feast with ice cream bowls scattered and melted pools of sticky goo on the table. Jenny put the dirty dishes in the sink and wiped down the table so she could sit down. When Sara and Peter woke up they finished the clean-up. While they were talking they made a plan to have dinner together. Sara really wanted to take her brother to an Indian restaurant she knew he’d love and Jenny agreed to join them. Dinner was great and Jenny went to bed early. She knew that her Monday at work was going to be rough.
In the morning, once again, Jenny tip-toed past the sleeping Peter to get to the kitchen. She tiptoed past him again to leave for work. And then had the day she was worried about. It was indeed a long, tough, and confusing day. She was tired. Going home she planned a long hot bath, soft music, maybe Chopin, and the quiet to sort out her thoughts and plan for the next day.
As she opened the door to her home, whom did she see but Peter sitting in the living room. In a glance she took in the room. His stuff was strewn all over the living room. Dirty dishes were on the coffee table. He had his computer in his lap. Rap music came out of the sound system. Her heart sank. He grinned, “Hi! How are you?” Then quickly changing his expression as he took in hers, “Are you okay?” She replied, “No, I’m beat, I don’t want to talk.” She walked past him to the kitchen. She reached into the fridge for something to drink. A horrible fishy smell assailed her.
Moral of the story: Fish and guests have one thing in common, they both stink on the third day.
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