MOIF2: Give Thanks

MOIF2:"Give Thanks"
Meditations over Italian Food - 2 "Give Thanks"
This Week, the Boss "Alex" is back after spending a few weeks
back home in Italia.

So on Sat evening:
"Hello David, nice to see u here again!" he said as he toted his
document bag to the bar counter. He gave a warm smile that
i'd not seen often in the past months of work there.
Perhaps he was surprised to see me back at work again.
"Hi Boss!", I replied, smiling politely to convey my thanks.

Later tt evening:
The rest. was packed frm abt 7pm to 9pm..
Scurrying between Kitchen & Dining Area was the order of tt
night. I recall clearly the following:

Table2:
Asian-Caucasian family dining. 2 Adults, 2 Kids.
The caucasian father looked like Robin Williams wearing a crew-cut
with a physique made not for comedy, but for Rugby Union or WWE.
They intially sat themselves at a small square table which was only
as wide as the father's shoulder-width.
They thanked us when we suggested they shift to a bigger one.
Later, even that bigger table was filled to the edge with
a seafood casuola and 2 pizzas. Imagine the clutter and inconvenience
tt the small square table might have caused.
Their 2 kids thanked me for serving them water.

Table 3:
Indian family of 5.
Very appreciate of us joining 2 small squares to make a bigger
table for them. Even more appreciative when their order was served.
A humorous occurance:
I happen to pass-by their table. With water jug in hand,
I turn to see if they needed a refill. My next glance saw
the father "air-lifting" a slice of Prosciutto e Funghi pizza over
from the plate in the middle; towards his son's.
In mid-air, a misbehaving bulb of mushroom
did a Parachut e Funghi straight INTO the father's glass.
Tt dive would have beaten the Chinese to the Gold in Athens.
The father and his family were visibly amused and thanked
me for offering to change the poo.. er, glass of water.

Kitchen:
Skipping through the swing-doors with plates of leftovers,
I proceed to help swipe remnants and morsels off the plates
into the bin; before handing them over to the new dishwashing
lady. I'm afraid i don't know her name yet so
i just say, "Thank you, Aunty!"
As she smiled and thanked me, I realised how much a word
of appreciation could lift one's spirit despite a stuffy working environment
and an almost endless stream of dirty dishes.

Closing time:
The night was tiring but most of the customers were
really nice people. None of the sort spoken of in the earlier
post:
http://weirong.blogspot.com/2004/12/meditations-over-italian-food.html
We had Spagetthi Bolognese for supper.. (Phew, no clams at last!)
I slung my bag over a tired back and said my good-byes.
Boss, in a seeming good mood, replied,
"Thank you, David! Really good to see you around again! Ciao~"
No, he wasn't drunk, but sincere - like a friend giving thanks.