Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for October 09, 2023

Open the door. The light from the hallway will help you find the switch in the room.

Just find the fridge and open it; that should give you enough light to find the switch.

Ask your phone to turn the flashlight on…

My key chain has a bitty little light on it which has saved my bacon (or at least dignity) a couple or three times. I’ve also been in this exact situation, which I solved by brailling my way to the keyed door which opens just fine from the inside. The light in the hallway was sufficient to find a light switch fairly near by. It turned on the bathroom light. And THAT light was enough to see that there WAS NO MAIN LIGHT SWITCH. I had to turn on individual lamps in the sleep / sitting area.

I strongly support Pastis’ complaint!!

He has mistaken a closet for his hotel room.

Steph never heard of using his phone light?

A lot of hotels I was in just have the lamps for lights, the only ceiling light is in the bathroom!

You have to admit, Steph has a valid point.

Use the light on your phone. I’ve never been a room that was so dark that I couldn’t see. About 8 yrs ago, were were a resort hotel on the 10th floor at Christmas time. All of a sudden, the entire hotel lost power. This was right around dinner time and people were stuck in the elevator. We could see out to the main road and power was out all over. That’s the night we learned to carry a small flashlight in our suitcases. They never get unpacked.

Maybe just take off the sunglasses.

In France some of the rooms require you put your key card in a slot to activate the lights. LoL. Know before you go

I once stayed in an otherwise perfectly nice hotel, a very green one actually only they had taken it a step to far. I found I could to turn none of the lights and I could not even get power from a free socket to my laptop.To stop guests from leaving their room they had put in a gizmo, where one had to store the keycard while in the room and it acted as a central power switch. Only with me arriving late they forgot to mention at check in, had I not been able to find the room phone using the light from my mobile it would have meant an trip to the front desk.

This reminds me of when someone says about someone else that …

… “The lights are on, but nobody’s home.”

Stephen will be in my neighborhood next week.

The man has a very valid point here!

Pastis should switch to a different hotel.

Doesn’t the hotel room has windows?!

Ain’t it the truth!

I once stayed in a budget hotel. To turn on the heat&a/c, I put the hotel room key into a switch.

Phones have flashlights and hotel rooms have windows with curtains so transparent it’s not even funny. This should not be a problem.

There is a story told by a former cricket commentator of a hotel room without a light and his attempt to find the bathroom in the dark. It involves the solid thunk of the room door closing behind him as he searches for the bathroom door, then the realization that he’s locked out in the corridor with nothing to wear except for a small paper towel found on a food tray outside one of the rooms. Thence down the elevator to the hotel desk to get a spare key and the elevator door opening to a full crowd at the bar level. I think Steph’s doing ok.

It’s been my experience that all hotel room light switches are in the same place…. The wall… Look there.

Room lights cost extra because you went to a no frills Hotel

Truth

remember it’s @ before # except after $

Maybe he forgot to put his key card in the slot by the door to turn on the electricity.

Awww! Next time bring a mini flashlight…☹️

if Pig is demeaning someone’s intelligence, they are in big, big trouble

While staying in a hotel in Reykjavík, we could NOT figure out how to work the shower!

I guess that’s why if I go traveling and stay overnight somewhere, I find a Motel 6. At least “they’ll leave the lights on” for you. Tom Bodett is your best friend.

Blast blast blast

Lights out

ah haaaaaaaaaaaah

Cell phones come with a light..

Oh look! This problem caused Steph to use a grawlix! (Anyone else learn that word last week from a GC commenter?)

Obviously not staying at a Motel 6, are you Stephan?

Fuuny! The old hotel room switcheroo!

Use your cel phone’s flashlight.

And that’s just for the main area, in he US. Try other countries. The norm in the UK seems to be for the switch for the bathroom to be on the wall outside of it. Oh, and in many parts of the world there is a switch ‘somewhere’ that controls the heating element for the shower.

Exactly why I put the flashlight icon in an immediately accessible place.

If Peggy can be short for Margaret, then Steve can be short for Stephen.

I agree Stephan; hotel light switches are the worst … grrrr

Your smart phone has a flashlight app! Just drag down the front screen.

Wouldn’t the light switch be right beside the front doorway?

This really is a reasonable request, Stephan!

I stayed in San Francisco in an old Victorian house that had been cut up into apartments. After several frustrating days, I decided there needed to be law that says: when you walk into a room and reach out inside on the open side of the door, you should always find a note that tells you where the light switch is located. :) :(

Tap the flashlight icon on your phone, dude.

holiday inns in arkansas and NC have a light switch at the door, light up the room lamp. if maids turn the lamp off, that flashlight you packed is good. no old navy electricians go anywhere without one.

Reminds of the story Dave Barry told about being on a book tour, and being booked into a ‘hip’ hotel was intentionally dark.

Yes, flashlights! I lof flashlights! Lof ’em, lof ’em!

Right there with you Steph. In one hotel room I looked high and low for any light switches. In the end I had to call reception. They told me that I should look for a console like an ipad to work the lights. No such console. I called reception again and they put me through to tech support. Tech told me that the console had been phased out but offered to come to the room. Once Tech support was there they could not find the light switches either. Well, until they moved the bed apart (two single beds had been joined) and then they found the light switches hidden behind the bed on the wall. They gave me a console.

I sympathize with Cartoon-Boy and his Dark Dilemma.

I always make it a point to notice where the light switch is when first entering a hotel room (aided by light from the hallway)….

I’ll bet he doesn’t have any trouble finding the mini-bar in the dark

Don’t close the door, Steph, until you find the switch.

Stevie Wonder once said he liked to stay in (I forget the chain, but want to say either Holiday Inn or Howard Johnson’s) when touring, because all the rooms in every one were exactly the same.