Grew up in a home and time
When the doors didn’t lock
And no one seemed to mind
Folks showed up, day and night
Someone always there
Almost all of the time

On the kitchen table
Always a cake or pie
That was never for you or I
But for company
Who may or may not stop by

Coffee and tea
Always on the boil
Whiskey or beer
If the end of the day was near

Our dinners were just enough
No leftovers ever
Unless a hungry soul showed up
Then dinner for six
Was dinner for seven
And no one seemed to mind

The home I grew up in
Was were people came
To live or to die
We were kids
We didn’t know the why

They would stay awhile
Growing our family of 6
To 7 or 8 or even 9
Sharing what we had
Until they would go

That was the hospitality
That I grew up in
Giving up your bed
And your spot in the bathroom line
Welcomed into our home
And no one seemed to mind

So at 13 I start
A near 50 year career
In hospitality
Before it was an Industry
When it was caring and kind
Welcoming each other
And just getting by
Before you were supposed to get rich
For just being kind

The currency of hospitality
Wasn’t cash or what it could buy
Our currency
Was in the people you’d find
Those working next to you
And those in to dine
Hospitality turned a dollar into a dime
And no one seemed to mind

Along the way, where I’m not sure
Hospitality became a business
Stealing the romance from restaurants
Forcing us to face a bottom line
Giving up on guests’ names and their lives
Only to track length of stay
And the dollars they spent
That’s where our hospitality went

Hospitality as an industry?
There’s no business model for that
Hospitality was how we treated each other

Friends and family, travelers and strangers
All treated the same
Open the door, welcomed by name

How did profit and loss
Replace kindness and caring
The worst of all - Hospitals
Bastardizing your care for their cash
Where’s the hospitality in that?

Sadly, no one seems to mind!