Due to my overwhelming writing deadlines, I won't be able to blog on a regular basis anymore. Because of this, I will no longer be posting on this URL at all. Click on the below link to be taken to my author website where the future blog posts will appear. At this time, I don't have a date when the posts will start up again. I hope by fall.
You will also be able to visit my other publications through this site.
https://lmgiannone.com/blog/
Thank you for following me here on BlogSpot. I hope you'll follow me on my new site.
Lisa
According to Lisa...
Random musings about whatever's on my mind.
Friday, May 20, 2016
Friday, April 15, 2016
Uninvited
** This excerpt from my book No Vacancy will only be available on this site temporarily**
The problem with living in a city like San Francisco is the amount of people who suddenly want to visit you. People you barely ever saw when you lived close to them. Relatives several steps removed start coming out of the woodwork. Friends of relatives several steps removed suddenly want to meet you. You’ve never heard of them.
The problem with living in a city like San Francisco is the amount of people who suddenly want to visit you. People you barely ever saw when you lived close to them. Relatives several steps removed start coming out of the woodwork. Friends of relatives several steps removed suddenly want to meet you. You’ve never heard of them.
What I haven’t figured out yet is why it doesn’t occur to
these individuals to ask me first if I will be in town, am available or have
time to host them before they book their flights? Why don’t they figure me into
their plans if I am the so-called reason they are coming? Wouldn’t they be
disappointed to embark on an eight hour journey only to find out I’m not there? If they wanted to see me so badly, wouldn’t
they want to confirm my availability?
I
frequently get very little advance notice, and often my professional, social,
cultural and athletic calendar is booked at least five months in advance,
causing me to have to change plans, cancel advance reservations, miss out on
season ticket dates, back out of golf league commitments (which impacts entire
league and partners, not just me, and incurs financial penalties), pay
cancellation fees, or disappoint others who were considerate of my busy
schedule.
You see, I plan ahead. I have to. My time is limited and demand is
higher than supply. If there is an event with limited tickets I am going to get
mine in advance to ensure I can be there. Sometimes my own travel plans are
non-refundable and they may be in town when I’m not. I have my own priorities. So
right away you know there is an ulterior motive for their visit, and you can
bet it isn’t to see me.
Why do these people think I have all this vacation time and why I
would want to use my precious days off to entertain them? Who gets that many
days off a year leftover to entertain every visitor that comes to town? They
live somewhere where no one in their right mind would visit, so they don’t
understand. Would they be so generous if the tables were turned? Do they not
need their few days off for sick time, vacation, or kids? Would they jeopardize their job if I came to
town? Would they forego an overdue trip to a tropical locale to host me, would
they give up their long-awaited chance to get away from their very stressful
job and necessary decompression time for someone they hardly know? I think not.
I only get so many days off a year. In my industry, it’s
very difficult to take consecutive days. Days off are few and far between
and as a consultant, I’ve often had to sacrifice a contract and a paycheck in
order to take very necessary decompression time, contrary to my client’s wishes.
For the last sixteen months, most of my personal time and more has been wasted
accommodating the inflexible and inconvenient office hours of many doctors,
reporting to operating rooms, sitting in waiting rooms, appearing for countless
pre-ops and post-ops, standing in line at the pharmacy, chasing billing
departments to track and correct THEIR mistakes, all in addition to my own jobs
and my 22 hour day that is already too full with my own responsibilities.
When I first moved to San Francisco in 1999, I constantly
had visitors. Everyone wanted to see California for the first time, and now
they had someone they could visit who could put them up for a week. Luckily it
slowed down the past few years. I don’t encourage visitors now and some are
aware that my time’s extremely limited. But they still come anyway.
I’m envious of people who can take time off of work without
being fired, can take an actual vacation, actually go somewhere and do what
they want to do. Any time I can manage
to get off involves hosting someone or spending it in my hometown. I have so
many bucket list destinations I have yet to see, all of which require three
weeks and more than a nine hour flight. Instead, I have to constantly
be current on events happening in town, tourist sites, new restaurants, even
though I’m unable to enjoy these things myself. I have become a personal tour
guide and concierge service. Except I’m not compensated for my ongoing research,
time or costs.
Having a large family on both sides can be both a blessing
and a curse.
Next post: 5/13
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