Dondi And The Waitress

When I arrived home yesterday, I was greeted not by the weaver, but by her friend/colleague, Dondi. "Welcome home, Honey!" Dondi is fearless in word and deed. "What's for dinner, dear?" was my response. The weaver then came into the kitchen and stopped THAT little mini-drama. We all talked for a quite a while, catching up on Dondi's views of life and the world. The weaver suggested we go out for a drink and a light repast. Dondi was game, and off we went to the neighborhood patio bar on an absolutely gorgeous evening.

The patio was almost empty, a young waitress came a took our drink orders. When she returned with the wine, she obviously was having a little difficulty with the corkscrew. "How long have you been a server?" piped Dondi. "Only about a month...This corkscrew is harder to do than I thought." Dondi talked with the young woman, making her feel at ease. The waitress took our food order and left.

Dondi told us a story about her favorite waitress, who worked at a roadhouse near Dondi's rural home. "We have gone there for many years, she is someone who hasn't had the easiest life, but we always enjoyed her and tipped her well. Sometimes she would talk about the treatment she had received from some of the other 'regulars', our neighbors, and I was shocked." Dondi told us of her waitressing career (one night) and we talked about the elitism that people feel they need to express whenever they are in certain social situations.

After our meal, we ordered port with our desserts, and Dondi graciously explained the types of port and what we were looking for to our neophyte server. The young woman seemed genuinely pleased that customers would express an encouraging interest in her. As she left Dondi cheerfully said: "Why don't you tell your boss you need to take a few bottles of wine home to practice your opening technique on?" "I'm not 21 yet!" was her reply. We all laughed.

It is a curious thing, how uncivil people can be in commercial situations. There ought to be an eleventh commandment:

Thou shalt not hassle anybody doing honest labor no matter what their social position is compared to yours.

That would make the world a better place.