Saturday, August 28, 2010

Birds can be funny. People too.

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me at breakfast in the coffee shop of the rather posh, 4 1/2 star, Sidney Pier Hotel the other morning when it opened at 6:30 am. I was enjoying my first sip of their quite delicious blend of coffee, when out of the corner of my eye I spied a furtive movement on the floor beneath an adjacent table. Surely not a mouse in such an up-scale establishment, I thought, but then suddenly, there it was again, another brief movement. But my mouse had feathers.

When I drew the attention of the rather pretty waitress to the little trespassing sparrow, she simply replied without looking up, that it was in here most mornings. No smile or expression of annoyance or happiness or amusement. A couple of other early morning customers came in, ordered and sat down peacefully, until they too noticed the sparrow, and since the wooden faced, pretty waitress still appeared completely uninterested, I let the others know that it was apparently a rather normal every day event.

A different sparrow, another time and a prettier setting.

Eventually the expressionless waitress came out from behind her counter, and the sparrow popped up onto the back of a chair. I remember noticing that it was rather expressionless too. Anyway the waitress walked over to the front door, opened it and locked it in that position before stepping outside and looking back at the bird through the window. It cocked its head to one side then the other, then looked down at the floor for a moment before deciding that it must be time to go, and left obligingly to resume its hunt for crumbs under the tables on the sidewalk.

And you guessed it. Not even the flicker of a smile or word of acknowledgement for her triumphant exhibition of bird training ability from the pretty young wooden faced waitress. But I smiled and made some comment about it being all in the days work... and the other customers, at least those who had noticed the performance, murmured or nodded in agreement, while the waitress closed the door and walked stoically back to her post behind the counter.

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