I sat with my friend in a well-known coffeeshop in a neighboring town of Venice, Italy, the city of lights and water.
As we enjoyed our coffee, a man entered and sat at an empty table beside us. He called the waiter and placed his order saying, 「Two cups of coffee, one of them there on the wall.」
We heard this order with rather interest and observed that he was served with one cup of coffee but he paid for two.
When he left, the waiter put a piece of paper on the wall saying 「A Cup of Coffee」.
While we were still there, two other men entered and ordered three cups of coffee, two on the table and one on the wall. They had two cups of coffee but paid for three and left. This time also, the waiter did the same; he put a piece of paper on the wall saying, 「A Cup of Coffee」.
It was something unique and perplexing for us. We finished our coffee, paid the bill and left.
After a few days, we had a chance to go to this coffee shop again. While we were enjoying our coffee, a man poorly dressed entered. As he seated himself, he looked at the wall and said, 「One cup of coffee from the wall.」
The waiter served coffee to this man with the customary respect and dignity. The man had his coffee and left without paying.
We were amazed to watch all this, as the waiter took off a piece of paper from the wall and threw it in the trash bin.
Now it was no surprise for us – the matter was very clear. The great respect for the needy shown by the inhabitants of this town made our eyes well up in tears.
Ponder upon the need of what this man wanted. He enters the coffee shop without having to lower his self-esteem… he has no need to ask for a free cup of coffee… without asking or knowing about the one who is giving this cup of coffee to him… he only looked at the wall, placed an order for himself, enjoyed his coffee and left.
A truly beautiful thought. Probably the most beautiful wall you may ever see anywhere!
《貼在牆上的咖啡》
我和我的朋友坐在鄰近的義大利威尼斯的一家著名的咖啡店裡，那裡是一座燈火通明的城市。
當我們享用咖啡時，進來一個男人，坐在我們旁邊的那張桌子。
他叫來服務生：「兩杯咖啡，一杯貼牆上。」
這點咖啡的方式讓人感覺新奇，我們注意到最後服務員只給他端來一杯咖啡，他卻付了兩杯的錢。
他剛走，服務生就把一張紙貼在牆上，上面寫著：一杯咖啡。
一會，又進來兩個人，點了三杯咖啡，兩杯自己喝，一杯貼在牆上。他們喝了兩杯咖啡，付了三杯的錢。
等他們離開，服務生又像剛才那樣在牆上貼了一張紙，上面寫著：一杯咖啡。似乎這種方式已經成了店裡的常規，令人新奇和不解。事不關己，我們喝完咖啡，付了錢就走了。
幾天後，我們又去這家咖啡店。當我們正在享受咖啡時，進來了一個人，此人的衣著與咖啡店的檔次和氛圍都極不協調，一看就是個窮人。他坐下來，看著牆上，然後說：「牆上的一杯咖啡。」服務生以慣有的姿態恭敬的給他端上一杯咖啡，那人喝完咖啡沒有結帳就走了。我們驚奇地看著這一切，只見服務生從牆上揭下一張紙扔進了紙簍。
此時，我們終於明白，當地居民對窮人的尊敬讓人感動得熱淚盈眶。咖啡既不是社會基本需要，也不是生活必需品，但我們享受任何美好的東西時，也許我們都應該想到別人，有些人也喜歡這樣的東西，但卻無力支付，再說那位服務生，他在為那個窮人服務時一直都是面帶笑容、畢恭畢敬。而那位窮人，他進來時也無須降低自己的尊嚴討要一杯免費的咖啡，他只需看看牆上。多付款的那杯咖啡叫待用咖啡，你付錢了，但並不知道誰會享用它。這不就是有愛的和諧世界嗎!
這真的是一個絕妙的創意。這堵牆可能是你見過的最美麗的牆！