Three old men and a serving of inspiration

Observing seemingly ordinary people, can be interesting and sometimes even thought-provoking. Over a period of a little over one month in Italy, I saw and reflected on the actions of 3 old men I met in different restaurants, who demonstrated something to me.

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One was the sole owner, cook, waiter of a warm and nicely decorated pizzeria, in his late sixties, and walked with a slight limp in one leg. After ordering some pizza in his shop, I was observing his style of work- he was completely enjoying himself- whistling melodiously to the music in his FM radio, sharing a joke or two with his customers and ofcourse cooking and serving the food himself, and cleaning the dishes.

Somehow, he seemed to be a classic example of a follower of karma yoga.

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Strangely I always seemed to have great difficulty in opening plastic caps of the water or juice bottles sold. I would forever struggle with my forefinger and thumb clasping the cap, and the other hand gripping the bottle, with the facial expression of a feather-weight wrestler being pinned to the ground by a super-heavyweight- till someone else in my table or a waiter would offer to open it for me.

Im a buffet-type restaurant in Termini station in Rome, an old gentleman came to sit in a table across mine, carrying all his foodstuff in a tray, settling down and starting his meal. He paused in between took his water bottle, placed it on his chair inbetween his thighs where he held
it tight, and opened it quite easily with one hand. He couldnt use the other hand, simply because it wasnt there !

- With the right tools and some smart work, you can even do without a extra helping hand.

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"Buona sera Signore ! Prego.." welcomes this 60-something waiter with a warm smile in the many evenings I ate at this eateria near my hotel. Knowing my difficulty in understanding Italian, he would offer helpful translations of the menu, the plate-of-the-day etc. And he would also remember my preference for vegetarian dishes from my second visit onwards and help me get what I want.

Moving quickly yet graciously across the spaces, and serving food in a well rehearsed style, he was miles ahead of his much younger colleagues in quality of service. One a day he was working alone, and seemed to be everywhere, I just offered to take my drink and salad from the fridge
myself. He stopped me in my tracks, politely sent me back to my table, and said with a another smile "I will bring it to you. Its my job" - such pride in what he does and mastery of rules of the customer service game.