For dinner this evening we performed the very best,
elaborate Fawlty Towers to date. Loraine had friends in (the couple who
introduced her and Andy) for whom she and Andy were determined to make a good
impression. I would say what made the difference tonight compared to other
nights is that the guests/diners/audience were REALLY into what was going on –
which can’t help but empower any performance, right?! Loraine’s son, Tom,
really does a superb job of impersonating Manuel. And then theirs Andy ,he’s a
natural – quick on his toes with the quips. I try to get the others to feed to
me, but mostly I flutter around like a pigeon without a home.
One bright spot was that I had the chance to share the
gospel today. Started in a conversation in the lounge, when I was puttering
around tidying up - same old conversation that goes, ‘Where’re you from?’
America. ‘Where in America?’ Utah. Then ‘Mormonism’ comes into it. One of the
ladies, of two couples, wanted to know what were the similarities between ‘the
Mormons’ and my religion, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Had
several minutes to get briefly into my beliefs. They had wondered how I managed
to look so good – ‘for my age’ – and I was happy to tell them. This
conversation was continued during the dinner hour, when, as Polly, I was
bringing something to their table. Stood and talked with them for 10 minutes or
so. (As I have said, in this setting – a guest hotel – the environment is much more
relaxed and it is entirely appropriate for a staff person to spend time with
guests in this manner.) One woman, earnestly, and one man, more banteringly, of
these couples had a lot of interest and were interested in exploring a number
of issues. Hopefully some seeds were sown.
Another couple, who I only ever saw at mealtime,
were really into the comedy aspects of our endeavors. The husband would always
call Polly over to have some fun. They were here for a couple days and nights
and helped make mealtimes fun. They and I were able to establish a real person
to person relationship. At the very last breakfast – where they had been
waiting patiently for all four ‘players’ to be present at the same
time so they could get their photo (unfortunately for them, it was NOT in Tom's agenda for him to make an appearance) – I asked the man if he would please also take a photo
with my camera. Not only did he oblige me on that score, but being somewhat of
a photographer, he also was able to clear a bunch of features that appeared unwanted
on my screen – something I had had not been able to do myself, as much as I
tried. That was awfully nice of him – it meant a lot to me.
Photos_
1- Mr. Fawlty, with a glint in his eye, harangues a teenager with a bowl-full
of porridge, prior to it ending up on his head
2- Basil and Sybil hamming it up, with Polly
3-4 a disgruntled guest
3-4 a disgruntled guest
