Tuesday, December 10, 2013

How long should a house guest stay?

Excepting very good (that is, 自动)friends who are independent and mobile, thus allowing a degree of space and privacy, the ideal length is two weeks.

Long enough to have some good conversations and genuinely savour the reconnection. Short enough that we can maintain the norms of best behaviour without feeling strained.

At three weeks, tension creeps in, tempers start to fray, and we become more authentic and decidedly less polite. A line is crossed. When will they go??!!

At four weeks, the gloves are out, shouting matches begin, unfortunate words are traded and all attempts at common courtesy are dropped.

Thus, brevity is the soul of friendship (or kinship, as the case may be).

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