I asked En out for lunch today - the annual Pete meets En event (though technically speaking, I think we missed last year’s). We were originally supposed to have gone out on Monday, but then she had to work, so she offered to treat me today. Being the self-delusional epitome of chivalry, I declined the offer (hence the ‘chivalry’) but like the idiot I am, I suggested she make the 10 minute walk over from her workplace to Takashimaya instead (hence the ‘delusional’). I still have no idea what I was thinking, since 10 minutes there and back meant that she could only spend half an hour at most. GAH. Nonetheless, it was a good lunch and by ‘good’, I basically mean no awkward moments or strange silences - which I totally fear when I’m with anyone.

But back to the title of this post - the extremely courteous staff of the Coffee Club branch in Kinokuniya. I believe the natural competition between higher-end cafes like tcc and Coffee Club have led to their staff be on the best behaviour at all times so as to prevent their competitors from getting an advantage in that area. I have developed a new-found appreciation for F&B professionals as a result. It is especially impressive how they can relax and chit-chat among themselves when there are no customers in the outlet, but the second a potential customer appears, the professional sheen is unmistakable, and they are attending to you 101%.

There’s a lesson for me to learn in all this, of course. There’s nothing like a clear outward expression of your duty and obligation to truly set yourself apart from others in the same profession. Too often, I give myself the excuse that I’m not truly doing a job I love, be it a part-time job, or my studies, or some of my obligations in the parish, and therefore find no need to maintain that outward expression of duty. I realise only now how much one stands out when that poor attitude is taken, and how much more gratifying it is to those around to see an attitude that befits the occupation. Whether it is as a technical writer during my attachment at Autodesk Asia, or in my discernment process in my journey with the Franciscans, it is a new-found appreciation for showing the best of myself at all times and in whatever I do.