in my flat from 2011 Feb 1 room for 2 people (mostly back to back people staying between 1-4 days usually turn the room round 3 times a week - 1 room for 1 person - since 2015 our old artist studio - for 2 people and a friend from Italy’s home sleeping 5 - since this year another 3 places friends homes that are on the market that sleep 5 3 and 3- flat out - been a bit nuts -
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Ok, I’m a European liberal ((actually a Brit who left the UK in compete disgust over Brexit hand now living in rural Spain. I have to ask, what IS the N word?
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Nigger I am afraid. Not nice.
And hosts can actually work this to their advantage because guests are the same. They’ll post here or on Reddit or on all those other sites asking what they should do rather than speak to the host.
So if they are making too much noise (for example) and the host goes and hammers on their door and tell them to shut the **** up, they are so astonished to see a real live person that they become wonderfully well behaved!
Sorry guys, shouldn’t have asked … bad word!!!
Oh, of course. Wish I hadn’t asked …thankfully such a long time since I’ve heard that word. Thanks
I agree SO much. It reminds me of people who say ‘frigging’ or some pretend word in order to avoid saying the real thing. I know exactly what they mean so why do they bother?
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I have to say that - with apologies to all Americans - that people in the USA tend to be touchier (in general, as a rule, not stereotyping here!) about certain words. I’ve even seen ‘damned’ with asterisks. Because I’m English and we’re well known for swearing a LOT, I tend to get away with it in real life but it’s difficult online because I don’t type with an accent. 
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This reminds me. USA TV censorship. I found it hilarious when I first lived in the States seeing a really graphic and pretty gross surgical operation on TV. Blood and guts all over the place. But the patient’s nipples were blurred out!
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I found it to be a real culture shock when I moved over here. I’m not saying that the UK is Utopia by any means (after all, I left it to come and live here!) but I was not expecting the stereotyping that I came across. (Gay people, black people, foreigners etc. were very stereotyped and I wasn’t at all used to that). I heard phrases and words that I’d never heard before. I came across prejudices that I’d never even thought of.
I was really surprised by the way that women were perceived. It seemed as though we were back in the olden days. It was as though every woman here was like Samantha in Bewitched - a stay at home wife making herself gorgeous for when Darren came home and making sure that she made his martini just the way he liked it.
It was also interesting that I was subjected to stereotyping for the very first time in my life. For example, I was seriously affronted to realise that the city offered business grants to women-owned business - why should we need grants more than male owned businesses???
And for the first time I experienced prejudice. Literally the ‘fuck off back to your own country’ stuff. Amazing really.
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What I didn’t mention in my previous post is that in addition to offering grants for women-owned businesses, the city also had grants for minority-owned businesses.
I used to joke that maybe I could get a double grant because a) I’m a woman and b) I’m a minority. Yes, people used to say ‘they don’t mean that sort of minority’ in which case I’d play dumb and say ‘they said minority. English people are a minority here’
I found it infuriating and I can only assume that if I was black or hispanic (a ‘minority’) I’d feel the same way.
I believe that these concessions are patronising.
I don’t want - or need - anyone to think that I need special treatment because of gender or any other issues. I am me. We’re all equal, aren’t we? Ha.
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LOL! Or Mr and Mrs Ghastly Superho from Vancouver Canada! They will act all friendly and proclaim they are easygoing and self sufficient then proceed to slam you in a review for nitpicks and house rules that they agreed to when booking. They will also accuse you of only being interested in recycles that have deposits.
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I know what you mean about those forms! They try to classify us but real live people just don’t fit into those categories. I never know which box to check when I’m asked for my ‘race’. I guess I’m ‘Caucasian’ but I’m not sure. We’re all a pretty weird mix really. Which is just fine.
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Shocked you haven’t heard of it TBH commonly used in the UK unfortunately.
I agree 100% . Most of my bad guests were from US. And older population are much worse than young people. I had only once British couple who I asked to leave as he was a total psycho , was yelling and screaming from the minute he walked into the house about everything. He then was trying to get refund but he d Dridn’t get any.
And then Indian family. But other than that my unfortunate experiences came from my fellow Americans .
True. Children’s books in Australia can say ‘bum’ but when printed in the US have to say ‘fanny’ which has an entirely different meaning in Australia.
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What does it mean to only be interested in recycles that have deposits?
Oh that is so weird. My only “dreadful” came from Ohio. We are in California.
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Of my 5 worst sets of guests, 4 sets were from Ohio. The next 3 worst? Ohio. I have no idea what it is, but do I take a little special care with OH guests to ensure they have read the listing (or at least SAY they have read the listing)? Yes, I do. Call it regional profiling, or whatever, but it’s made me a little more careful. Florida guests have the biggest issues with wanting icy a/c. When people from Florida inquire (or after they IB) I make sure they are fully aware that the retrofitted HVAC in our historic cottage only gets down to 73F, max. Experience counts for something.
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I wonder if that Ohio couple chose Denmark because Trump was obsessed with Danes and would speak very highly of the King. Disturbing… but not out of step.
Well I would have given you 5* for the joke.