Surprise, Surprise

When a new little establishment opens, I try to give them my business if I can to help them get off to a good start. Directly across from one of my favorite cafes, Aztek Chocolat  at V. Károly krt. 22 is a new little copy shop. After just finishing creating guest brochures for the rooms, I laminated a color copy for each room, plus one for reference. Then I thought it would be a good idea to have copies made so guests can take it with them when they are out and about. I have things like which tram, metro or bus stops are within 2 blocks of us, plus other little tips. Off I went to the copy shop where I had 30 copies made to start.

As I left, Aztek Chocolat was calling to me saying "Are you sure you don't want an espresso?" I started to resist and continue on to the bus, when I stopped to call Ron to see if he would join me. Nope, he was not interested, but the rest of the news was that a major water main broke directly in front of our building. They were in the process of ripping up the street and there would not be any water for ? hours. Well, there was no chance of getting coffee at home, so Aztek Chocolat, I am yours.

While ordering my coffee, I overheard a couple speaking NY English; being from NJ, I can pick up that accent in a whisper. Curious how they happened to come across the cafe, I did not want to disturb them to ask. Seating myself outside, waiting for my brew delivery, I turned to see the woman with a book in her hand. The book looked like it went to a Post-A-Note convention and barely survived the give-aways. It was littered in yellow sheets popping out of the binding like spiked hair on a teenager. The cover looked familiar, but I had been wrong in the past, so I proceeded with caution. Taking one of my new Frommer's business cards out of my wallet, I stalked back in to get a closer look. Eureka! I found it. My book, or rather her book that I had authored. Without saying a word, I handed her the card. She looked at it and thanked me.

Atypical New Yorker. I gave her a few seconds to connect the dots, but the synapses were not firing, so I filled in the gaps for her. "That book you are using is the one that I authored. If you have any questions, I will be outside."

They must have then taken time to match the name of the card with the name on the book. The husband vaulted out of the cafe, introduced himself followed by "This book has been the best investment we have made. We went to all of the places you highly recommended and you have been right on target. You have the best job going." I was not sure whether I should blush, bow, curtsy? What is the protocol in these situations? I should have had the game plan ready when I presented them with the card. The wife then made her appearance, so we could the praises could be shared yet again. I never said "Stop you are embarrassing me." Hey, who am I to inhibit free speech? Well they are NY'ers from Staten Island. We had a nice chat, but they are leaving tomorrow for Prague.

Walking on a cloud, I didn't care if there was no water at home. Ron took advantage of the situation by declaring we had to have dinner out or pick up dinner out and bring it in. Our neighbors were uncharacteristically helpful. They came to tell us we could get water from down the street. Of course this was shared in a mix of Hungarian and charades. We were uncertain if they were telling us something or just rehearsing for some public performance they had in the works. Very strange as highly unusual, their being nice to us. Water was indeed being pumped out from a water truck, but B.Y.O.B. Bring Your Own Bucket. We filled a pail for emergency use. The jack hammering is still happening at 10pm. We were so thankful that the four guests we had had all left earlier in the day. No other guests are coming until tomorrow. Hopefully, we will be able to shower before greeting them.

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