if everyone lived their lives

The same topic is an article written three years ago, adding new feelings to write this. Original title "The night guard is a scholar"

It has been nearly five years since I moved to Zhubei, and I have been working in the service industry for three years. When I came back from Paris a few months before the epidemic, I opened a dessert shop. In the first two years, I encountered many arrogant and rude customers in the department store, and several times it seriously hurt my self-esteem. Even thinking that I'm just playing a role can make me uncomfortable all day long when I'm uncomfortable.

Later, with the storefront, I began to walk out of its own brand characteristics, gradually eliminating those inappropriate customers, and harvesting loyal customers who really appreciate us and respect us... I would say that the interaction between people should be mutual respect . But those who have never been in the service industry may have a hard time understanding that some people are used to talking to service staff in a "top-to-bottom" way, and they can feel that those people are essentially disrespectful to people, even if they have a friendly appearance.

But I don't know if the respect is now due to opening a store, having my own technology, or the upbringing of the people in the neighborhood themselves?

Mr. Concierge

One of the regulars was a 68-year-old concierge who worked nearby.

 Speaking of the concierge, I always think of the concierge wife of the French novel "The Elegance of the Hedgehog". The real woman is hidden under her bloated and clumsy exterior. She is a lady who likes to read. In traditional society, she is The commoners, who serve the upper classes, form an exterior according to the expectations of others.

The concierge works in a luxury house, and it is not that he comes with a cup of pour-over coffee of more than 150 yuan every day that makes me feel that he is different from the concierge of the worldly impression - the import price of our pour-over coffee corresponding to the coffee beans is "abnormal". "It's cheap. After all, desserts are the main force for us. Most customers don't find coffee with a high CP value, and we don't want to make it public. Many people only look at the amount of coffee to determine whether it is expensive or cheap. When this gentleman first came to the store, he observed several coffees and pointed out the point of "the high CP value of coffee".

When the store owner encounters understanding customers, they always feel sympathy, which is an indescribable joy.

He said that he used to drink Colombian Emerald Hill in other stores, but now he drinks Diamond Hill from our store. He seemed to come from a good family on his first visit, and he knew a lot about coffee origins and import topics - I used to talk to people of that age, and only my dad could catch up on those topics.

I'm guessing the concierge might be in the middle of the family or retirement to pass the time, but he doesn't hide his profession, which I take for granted. I know some people who can't fully accept their current situation, and I envy that kind of comfortable state of mind. I hope I can do the same in the future no matter what.

Talking about herbal tea one day, he mentioned the life situation when he was a child-their family used to open a large pharmacy in Hsinchu, it was a three-piece house, and the first floor of two of them was rented to other stores. He knew how to drink tea when he was young, but he had to drink coffee when he was too refined, which also confirmed my speculation about his life experience.

Another time I mentioned that the coffee I drank in Hsinchu City was 580 yuan per pot (the same estate as our coffee beans), plus 280 yuan for breakfast and 10% service charge, breakfast cost 1,000 yuan, so " Concierge" This job should just kill time. He had heard about the spending power of Hsinchu people before. He told me that he was happy to find a good coffee, regardless of the price, just like only people who don’t know how to drink red wine would look at the price and buy it.

That kind of taste in eating and dressing needs to be educated.

building guard

The night guard in the building where I lived as a child is a person who likes to read, throwing out the trash at night or going home occasionally at night, I will see the guard reading or studying at the counter, I am not sure if he is preparing for some kind of exam or license.

It's not that I find it weird to read as a security guard, but I'm now selling desserts and reading books at the same time.

However, the image of this guard was different from that of other guards at the time. At that time, most of the ordinary residential security guards in Taipei came to Taiwan from China. They were about the same age as my grandfather. The long working hours were spent on TV or radio. It is usually to watch and listen to opera programs to relieve homesickness.

The night guard that impressed me was probably in his thirties. Looking back now, I mentioned the concierge in "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" again. The concierge loves to read, but she feels that according to the universal values of society, she believes that "as a concierge, you should not love to read". She clearly did nothing wrong but If you want to be sneaky , you can only play a normal concierge.

In another French novel, "It's Good to Be Together" with the same setting in Paris also has a similar description - the heroine who is a cleaning worker is actually a painting genius, of course, she has a certain past to do this job.

Whether it's the concierge or the cleaning staff, the professional appearance of the exterior is in conflict with the author's stated preferences, not what the reader expects, but of course the novel is intended to be that way. Even if most people don't particularly imagine the inner world of these laborers, they would never guess that they might be full of art.

I now work in a dessert shop most of the time, and at the same time sit at the counter typing and occasionally reading. When guests show up, I always push the book to one side. Subconsciously, I seem to be embarrassed to be seen reading a book like "Saudi talks about subjectivity", thinking that I have become the same as the concierge lady.

Gradually become accustomed to become the image in the eyes of others.

Just as I was typing this article, it was close to the closing time. The concierge had a cup of coffee in the morning, and he came to have another cup of coffee near seven o'clock. When he saw someone coming in, he subconsciously stopped writing.

One of the first spectacular bookshelves I've seen in my experience belonged to an Italian friend who worked as a sommelier in a restaurant, who deliberately chose a job where he could use his time. No matter how advanced the society is, there are still expectations and imaginations for people in various occupations. I often see media reports about people who gave up urban life to become farmers in the countryside. The narratives have made value evaluations in the presenters. .

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