Cardinal Lesson

I LOVE it when stereotypes get shattered!!
I’ve received more friendly-as-ever free nights at inns than I can even keep track of by now, and for the first three thousand of miles of the trip, despite the fact that it’s common to find kind immigrant Indian families running small motels, I’d given up hope of ever receiving a complimentary night at a motel run by an Indian family. The Indian families are always incredibly polite; however, I simply assumed that especially since many of them are relegated to running the less-expensive motels upon freshly arriving to the United States, they have to quickly learn to be strong to survive, and are therefore molded into the mindset that everyone must pay. I imagine that they must hear many “stories” from people who want free rooms or extended stays–making it potentially difficult to distinguish my story from a million others. Aside from that, if I am to ask for a room for a night, I only do so via e-mail (no pressure), and most of the small, inexpensive, Indian-run motels have no website. So, across the first three thousand miles, I grew to assume that I’d not be receiving any invitations from Indian-run motels. I never thought of this as a “bad” thing– I simply figured that I had learned to understand their survivalist mindset.
Oh, how I love it when some assumptions are beautifully transformed!!
In Liberty, Texas, my jaw dropped when I arrived to find that the owner/operators of the Luxury Inn & Suites, who’d responded to my e-mail, inviting me in for a night, were the Patel family, from Gujarat, India. They were SO kind, and their teenage daughter interviewed me for a story for her school newspaper. .
Last week, upon setting off from Durham on Monday, prepared to end the day with finding a safe, hidden place to spend the biting cold night outdoors, Rocio & I ended up being invited in by another Patel family for a pair of nights at their Inn at Creedmoor in Creedmoor, NC.
Quickly-emerging Road Angel Faicia Elliott had also placed the ball rolling to find us hosting in Henderson (three days up the road), and having learned of this, Henderson local Marissa Patel contacted her parents, Mike & Val Patel, owners of Henderson’s Cardinal Motel, to insist we have a place to stay in Henderson.
Mike & Val Patel, pictured here with Mike’s mother and their young daughter, invited us to spend Saturday and Sunday with them at the Cardinal Motel. (As it turns out, these Carolina Patels are related!) On Sunday, Sejal Patel (Inn at Creedmoor) kindly drove to Henderson and picked Rocio up to drive her to Durham to catch her bus back to Atlanta. This generous gesture had given Rocio the ability to spend an extra night with me!
Sunday evening, Mike Patel saw that a storm system was about to pass through the area, and he insisted that I spend extra nights at his Cardinal Motel. He also wanted to look into having me speak to local schools (schools turned out to be on spring break this week).
I head out today, after four nights at the Cardinal Motel. Of all the generous hotel, motel & inn offers, four nights is a new record for me at any hotel, motel or inn. And Mike & Val have invited me to their dinner table each my four nights here. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the family in the process.
I love it when assumptions are happily transformed– this time by a series of Patel families!
Interestingly, for years I’ve been fascinated with Indian culture: spirituality, meditation, food, etc. The Indian state I’ve most been hoping to spend time in is Gujarat. And now, all of these Gujarati families have been leading the way with their hospitality to me in the U.S.
It’s funny how the world works.