Scout’s Honor
By the time everyone has arrived, there must be fourteen of us. The meeting time is 10:30 but with our international friends Facebook group, that’s more a target than a requirement. From a few minutes before until awhile past 10:30, expats dribble into the bar. As our number grows, a few friends grab one more empty table to add to the end of the line.
Before pulling up a chair, each of us stops by the counter to put in an order with Giorgio or Fabio (nicknamed Fabioloso by Chris for the artful flourishes he adds to their morning caffe’). Soon, a dozen cups topped with the foamy white of cappuccino cover the table. Teapots decorated with pretty floral prints sit in front of the few Brits unable to switch to the standard morning drink of their adopted homeland. Here and there, scattered among the cups and saucers is a plate on which the barista has dropped an enticing cornetto, with crème or chocolate oozing out the top, or an equally tempting dolce, crisp and sugar coated.
Sooner or later, at a break in conversation, someone looks look down at their empty cup, “Hey I’m getting another- anyone want something?’
“Sure, I’ll take another cappuccino!”
Someone else says, “I think I’ll have a macciatone.” Or maybe it’s time for an Americano or a straight up espresso.
By now its getting near to lunch. The panini in the case look like a good solution to the few who hear gentle stomach rumbles. More additions to the cluttered table.
A glance at a watch. “I can’t believe we’ve been chatting for two hours. Gotta go!”
Each of us gathers up a few, now empty cups and plates and heads to the register.
Like a roll call, one by one we report what we’ve eaten and drunk and settle up with the barrista. No one has kept a tally up at the register of how many cappucini passed over the marble countertop or how many fewer dolci entice the next batch of customers. The whole morning unfolds as it does at countless bars around Italy. Customers had their fill of caffeine and sweets. Bar owners and staff trust each of us will give an honest accounting and pay up what’s fair.
This simple daily social contract amazes me. It’s such a refreshing contradiction to a world that often seems obsessed with money and goods and getting what’s due you. Relationship, conversation, social interaction are treasured above the material things. Its just one of Italy’s many charms.
One of Fabioloso’s creations with a tempting dolce