Bad guests

Hosts are expected to be generous. In some cultures, generosity is taken to extremes. Praise an object in his home, and you are obliged to take it with you. Admire the jewelry box, and your hostess will make you pack it.

Hosts, even if not given to giving away their household items, might also generally be understanding when a guest makes a misstep.

It seems that guests around the world have ceased respecting local mores when traveling.

Apparently, some are stripping in the sunflower fields to send home a nude postcard. A woman recently stepped into a fountain to refill her water bottle.

Misbehaving is a temptation while we are vacationing. You want to let loose a little:

• Maybe dance a little harder and longer
• Be out in the sun past sundown
• Dress less, or more if you are so inclined
• Drink one [ I suggest just one] too many
• Eat a little more but much more luxuriously
• Get up earlier
• Stay up later
• Walk everywhere
• Sit in a café half the evening
• MIND YOUR MANNERS.