The Venician Pizza Guy

Inspiration...

It comes to us in many different ways, in many different shapes...
Some of us search high and low to the ends of the Earth looking for it.
For some it just comes when we least expect it.

And for a few lucky people, it comes and visits quite a few times throughout their lifetime.

For me, one of these rare moments came from the most unexpected of places, in the most unexpected of times...

Venice, the City of Romance...

Its lush waterways and canals enticing every single soul that sets its eyes upon them... A magical wonderland, with the Renaissance lingering in the very air that the city breathes...

Venice...the City of Romance...

And me nursing a broken heart, which I had left behind somewhere in the Highlands of Scotland...

Irony at its finest...

It was summer, and summer in England was nowhere like summer in Italy. We were roasting in the sweltering heat, sweat continuously pouring down our foreheads...

My cousin and I had arrived in Venice for a couple of hours, and were having quite a difficult time getting a hotel. Tourist season was at its peak, and we were caught in its wake...

After two hours of hotel-hunting we decide to take a break, and this quaint little trattoria (an informal restaurant or tavern serving simple Italian dishes) comes into view...

Where we see this bustling, energised waiter moving about, from table to table... The spring in his step was reminiscent of Mohammed Ali in his prime, 'floating like a butterfly, and stinging like a bee', and his hands were like the rollers in an automated carwash...

Spray spray spray...

Spin spin spin...

Wipe wipe wipe...

And as if by magic the tables were shining new, as if they had just come out of the furniture store...

And to top it all off, he was doing everything with a smile on his face!

Will wonders never cease?!

In Malaysia the best you can get from the people waiting for you would be a curt nod, or a grunt to indicate they heard you (though I'm sure this isn't the picture for ALL Malaysians...Heavens No...)

And it wasn't just that he was smiling everywhere...

He greeted almost everyone that passed by the place, though I'm sure he knew most of the people there by heart already...

It was 'Ciao!' (the Italian greeting) here and 'Ciao!' there, and he would strike up a conversation with them, all the while his body was moving about wiping tables and serving customers...

It was like watching poetry in motion...

If this guy could do all that, still maintain his cool in the sweltering heat, and look like he was as happy as a sparrow in flight... If he could be this happy...
Then there was no reason why I couldn't...

Broken heart or no, for the first time in a week that I was hurting inside...

I actually felt happy...

Thank you for becoming my inspiration...

Mr Venician Pizza Guy...