When we first settled into our hotel room and quarantine, we weren’t sure how things worked. Soon we learned that if there was a knock at the door, we should grab our masks and  open the door. A masked staff member would stand at a distance and pass on information. 

Sometimes, the staff knocked at the door to let us know that we had a meal in a small styrofoam box on the table at the end of the hallway. So, we would walk down to the table, find the package with our room number and return to the room.  Very soon, the staff did not even stop to talk to us.  The just knocked on the door to let us know that something was on the table for us.

The table on which things are left for us, stands in a doorway to an outside patio area. The table normally blocks the opening to keep people from entering/exiting the corridor. 

When the staff arrive to deliver the food, they often move the table a bit, in order for them to come into the corridor and knock on doors. When they slide the table, its metal legs scrape against the tile floor with a screeching noise. 

It didn’t take us long to learn that when we heard the table moving, shortly afterward, there would be a knock on the door. 

By the end of the first week, we had learned that when we heard the scrape of the table, we should put on our mask and peek down the corridor to see if we were getting a meal. 

It was then that Tim realized we had been trained! Just like Pavlov’s dog – we hear the noise and go looking for food. Wow. It’s scary how easily we were trained!