This morning I had breakfast at the bar and the guy from my favorite café gave me the biggest cinnamon cake he had and a good cappuccino with a little heart of cream and all sadness went away, so I smile satisfied and sip the cappuccino. I noticed that fewer and fewer people come here in the morning and I think that having breakfast at the bar has now become a real luxury. I pay 5 euros for a cappuccino and a dessert. So I imagine that for many people, spending 5 euros a day makes a difference, since before you paid half for the same things. Even the premises are no longer as full as before. A simple beer costs 7 euros. Having an aperitif is only for a few. And if you drink a lot and a lot then you spend a whole salary. Here the pardons are very alcoholics. They drink a whole bottle of wine with dinner, not a glass. So then they start driving and make tragedies. Or they drive and hold their smartphone in hand and crash into other cars. I don't drink prosecco, I don't like white wine. I only drink water and non-alcoholic beer because my heart can't handle alcohol. I like loose leaf tea but I only drink herbal teas now. Of the loose leaf tea I liked the one with jasmine and mint. It was delicious. I often took it in the summer and drank it chilled. And I studied while sipping tea, sitting on the balcony or veranda, with several university textbooks to memorize. I watched the cars go by in the street and I also watched the pigeons flying from roof to roof. Sometimes the church bells rang very loud and I couldn't concentrate. People went to the beach and I instead was intent on studying.
"Excuse me, how much does a croissant cost"?
I have breakfast at the station bar, waiting for the 6:00 train, when I hear a guy ask the bartender:
"Excuse me, how much does a croissant cost"?
You hardly hear the price of the croissant or coffee at the bar. So I look at the boy and notice that it is as if he were doing the math. After a while he asks for a croissant. But nothing else.
He leaves the bar, I follow him, I notice that after a few meters he stops leaning against the station wall.
My train hadn't arrived yet, his regional was almost ready for departure.
I approach talking trivially about the weather, the wind ... and then ask him:
"how was the croissant?" And he: “it wasn't bad. Why are you asking me? "
I use the utmost caution:
“out of curiosity, I didn't like it that much. However, I haven't had coffee yet. Would you like to take it together? "
He looks at me curiously:
“sure, thank you, he's very kind. But I only have 10 minutes. Then I absolutely have to take the train, today is my first day of work ”.
We go back into the bar and I say to him:
"Look, don't you want a cappuccino"?
Accept. We consume and immediately go back to the tracks. The boy stops, sad look, low voice:
“I know he understood. And I thank you because you didn't make me weigh it. Today I start working, and it is not the job I expected. But I can no longer weigh on my family. Because my parents can't take it anymore. I always have a few coins in my pocket, but now at the end of the month I will finally be able to take something home too ''. Thanks again for the cappuccino and above all for the grace. These are not things to be taken for granted ”.
He runs to catch his train. Mine arrives almost immediately.
I leave with a sense of sadness, imagining how many people every day cannot afford even a cappuccino at the bar. But when this happens to a boy, sadness turns to anguish. It's not right.
THE PRODIGY OF IDEAS 