5 days ago
The luxury of a cheery welcome
The very best job in the world must be being an AA man. Yes, you may spend much of your working life in the cold, wind, rain, darkness and millimetres from certain death or maiming by collision with speeding cars on the very edge of a motorway — but everyone is unequivocally delighted to see you. Can you imagine going to work, knowing that every single person you encounter will greet you beaming, pathetically grateful that you simply turned up for work today?
Others I'm reliably elated by the appearance of:• Any masseur• An airline stewardess barrelling down the aisle with the snack trolley• Father Christmas• A waiter, ready to take the food order. I can't relax unless I know the order is in the kitchen and the process is under way. (With the caveat that he or she is holding a pad and pen — this is not the memory Olympics.) • A plumber or electrician• The Tube passenger who vacates their seat just as I board, allowing me a small win in the furtive, silent game of musical chairs that is a feature of every rush-hour Underground journey• The Ocado delivery driver. I've never met a grumpy one, their recruitment policy must be dazzling • My cleaner. Once a week, when I see those sparkly taps, I experience the thrilling little frisson of feeling as though I live in a hotel• When I have a hangover and my resolve is as thin as a layer of nail varnish, the Deliveroo driver bearing enough highly processed food to sink a battleship.
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But even better than any of the above coming into view is the luxury of being on the receiving end of a cheery welcome. The legendary London restaurateur Jeremy King, proprietor of The Park and Arlington, is the master of the dignified, elegant welcome, leading to a smug certainty that one is in the right place at the right time, and almost certainly wearing the right clothes. See also: the explosive joy of all dogs, always. And think of the quiet glee with which a self-opening Japanese lavatory seat seems to greet one.
