Nervous About New Guest-Was I Too Kind?

amother

Wed, Mar 24 2010, 4:35 pm

Yesterday I got a call from a friend asking me to take a lone woman (call her Mimi) as a Seder guest. The friend (let's call her Leah) said that Mimi is someone she's known for years, a nice normal person who simply wasn't able to go back to the U.S. as planned for Pesach and that she couldn't take her as she had a full house. As I love having guests for the Seder, I said no problem. Mimi is supposed to sleep here overnight, and she will just be with us for Seder and that's it.

Today, I just got a call from another friend (call her Esther). Esther said that she'd originally been asked to have Mimi but hadn't been sure she had room and that when she called Leah back, Leah told her that Mimi is coming to me. Esther said she's known Mimi for quite a while and described her as a "high-energy" person. Then she drops the fly away comment that I should just know that Mimi loves wine and sometimes gets a little high at the Shabbos table. I said hopefully that won't be a problem as we only have low-alcohol wine, but now I'm nervous in case she brings her own wine with her ...

I asked Esther a few more questions about Mimi, and she said that she's a "fun person. You'll enjoy her. I wouldn't exactly ask her to move in with me, but she's fine in small doses." The only thing is that apart from Mimi I have another friend coming (whom I haven't warned yet) and my two ds's, aged 12 and 13. As it is, they looked a little worried when I said we were having a guest we'd never met before. They said they hope she isn't weird.

I can't help wondering after my brief chat with Esther what she was leaving out. She's quite a discreet person, and I felt she was gently warning me. I said that I was having Mimi for Seder and she said that she'd tell Mimi she's welcome to drop by. I don't know if she's trying to save me from a situation or whether I'm just worrying for nothing.

Should I say anything to Leah, the person who set us up? Or should I chill out and not worry about it (and keep a close eye on her in case she gets drunk in front of my ds's, which would be a disaster)?

WWYD?

DefyGravity

Wed, Mar 24 2010, 4:51 pm

I wouldn't worry. "A little high" from drinking alcohol is quite different from completely drunk.

You've never had a guest over that liked wine? We all like wine and tend to get a little tipsy at the seder. We like dry wine at the seder b/c it keeps us from getting heart burn (I get heartburn from sweet wine and grapejuice), and dry wine always has high alcohol content. It's not like we're all slurring our words and acting like idiots. We just like wine!