I'm sitting in a coffee shop in Dublin. The two young men who served us this morning had to get what my wife and I wanted to us, very quickly, because there was a little bit of a line. Not much, compared to an airport, but they don't get to sit down much today, I reckon.They are typical of the people who have served us - bus drivers, waiters, shopkeeps, etc. And my wife and kids are talking about how wonderfully kind people are here in Ireland. It's true.
It was also true in Lima Peru earlier this year, though the language was a barrier for us. And it made me think again of one of the three books I read this summer, at the beach. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, in which an alter-ego of the Gotama Buddha finds his zen as a small person ferryboat steer.
When I like myself, occasionally, it's when I'm enjoying and liking other people. If one manages to achieve that, life goes by nicely. On the other hand, the consumption path of the human species really is headed for a precipice, and being popular with other humans can't be the sole measure of my life. When I want to actually accomplish things and make a difference, I'm forced to try changing human behavior which doesn't want to be changed.
The service sector requires us to recycle our soul with each client encounter.
