StealthyCoder

I was rewatching Groundhog Day for the umpteenth time. This time I was reflecting on a scene I experienced earlier in the day.

I was for a brief time, a finite miniscule moment, a part of a local pizza place and its camaraderie. I entered and asked politely if I could get some pizzas to go as well. They replied with indeed, did you know already which ones or do you want to look first. I replied I had to look first and they seated me at a reserved table and I looked upon the menu.

After me a very harsh looking woman who also acted in a Cruella DeVille manner asked rather brusquely if they did a Bolognese without beef. The owner replied no can do, I am sorry.

After placing my order in which I respectively and asked in a simple well mannered way if they could drop one ingrediënt from the pizza, the same owner replied of course we can do that. Have a seat and we will bring the machine so you can pay and then wait for a spell for your pizza.

As I was waiting there a young man entered, slightly out of breath. As if he just hastily arrived there. He apologized for his tardiness and then asked if he could please drink something after he suited up for the evening. The owner asked him something and after the young man replied the owner told him go to the bathroom, come back and drink something. You are not working this evening. As he came back the owner said take a seat there and I got you a nice plate of good food.

The owner handed him the plate and he asked the waiter on duty for some water in an orange cup. The waiter rather than just handing it to him, actually waited on him and served the drink. The young man said that is sweet, thank you. They then started talking about a serious crime that happened here, which is very rare for such a communal place. Then the waiter said, guess what she is not working from tomorrow on so I get to work with you again. The young man replied with that he looked forward to that, since he missed spending time with the waiter. He was left to finish dinner in peace.

Next a new waiter on his first day, entered. He was first taken to the room where they change into work attire and then when he came back the owner gave the experienced waiter the command to train the new guy. Teach him how to wait and serve, hold the tray and have him walk the rounds and practice waiting. In a commanding voice, somewhat gruff but also nicely.

Then the cook introduced himself and explained that he lived here partly and partly ashore. Then explaining further he was called in when it got too busy or when the current staff did not know what they were doing.

After the cook talked to the foreign cook it suddenly came out that the foreign cook was a real Italian, and owned his own pizza place in Italy. Somehow he ended up here due to Covid and after the earlier “mistake” or what really was a different way of doing things everything seemed to have instantly smoothed over and they bonded right then and there.

The young man left, and also greeted me good night and wished me a nice evening. As I got the pizzas I got sent off really nicely by the two cooks, in Dutch and Italian. The owner welcomed new guests and I wished the new guy good luck on his first evening.

Everyone treated me briefly as if I belonged there and was part of the team. Some employee they did not know what they were supposed to be doing but dared not question the motive for being there, to find out my raison d'etre.

What a fantastic first day of vacation.

I realize now more than ever, community and the relationships that get forged within and help strengthen the solidity of the community itself is what makes life worth it.

This also goes for online communities and the ones around programming languages and other digital guilds.