Hermit....me?

I am cut out to be a hermit or so I think.The point is that right now i am more than happy with the limited human contact that i have.It has its advantages.I don't have to dress up(as in wear nice formal clothes) comb my hair,wear makeup etc.I can lounge in baggy comfortable clothes and read my books,eat my meals and potter around in my half food balcony garden(where there is hardly any space for me to stand).

Unfortunately one cant live like a hermit in a big city and its only natural that from time to time visitors(uninvited and invited) do drop in.Today is one such day.The guest in question are not guests in that sense,they are close relatives except that one part of the family is of a different nationality.Now i have promised to provide dinner and then my problems began.The foreign part of the family cant handle too much spice,the children either so the green chillies have to be limited.However the large majority loves spice so what exactly am i to do.In the interests of good manners and good Indian hospitality we defer in favour of the minority so the food will be fairly bland,the house will be spruced up and the setting formal and there will be desert(never served in my house with any meal).

Which brings me to the next part of my thinking.We always manage to defer in favour of the minority and i cannot understand why.So when vegetarians come home for a meal we always ensure that no meat or fish is cooked at home for at least twenty four hours lest the smells upset them.When children come we pull out all the little things we have by way of entertainment(and we have very little as this house is child proof).We have chairs and sofas,when we would actually like cushions on the floor and mats,but we might have elderly people come over who would find it difficult to sit on the floor(the elderly we know cant even climb stairs so there is hardly a question of them visiting) and so on we go making concessions as we go along.Today is one of those days and i still cant figure why my house cant have that untidy but lived in look(after all they are family) and why do i have to look presentable and why do i have to bring out the best china.Actually if i ask myself that question....well no one asked me to do anything out of the ordinary but i choose to do it because somewhere there is an unwritten rule that says its must be done this way.....oh well this is where i wish i could be a hermit and be left alone....do i really?hmm its a thought