Why I always ask for a deposit.

The deposit is not a transaction. It is a signal, sent in both directions. When someone completes it without complaint, without negotiation, without a lengthy explanation of why their situation is different, I learn something important about them before we have exchanged a single word.

I learn that they take commitments seriously. That they understand time has value. That they are comfortable with a small amount of uncertainty, which is, in my experience, the quality most predictive of a pleasant afternoon.

The people who push back hardest on the deposit are, with rare exception, the same people who cancel last minute, who arrive late without apology, who expect flexibility they are not prepared to offer in return.

I do not say this to be unkind. I say it because patterns are useful. A deposit is not a test you pass or fail. It is a very small action that reveals something already true about the person taking it.

The money itself is almost beside the point. It is the willingness to commit, quietly and without drama, that I am looking for.