Книга только для ознакомления
. Jaime Valera had once been head-waiter there and had married the owner's daughter. This made him permanent maitre d'hotel. When his father-in-law died, he became the owner in the eyes of the public. But his wife retained the purse strings and presided over the cash register.
(Perhaps I should add that he was 'Don Jaime' to us because he was our patrуn; he was not a Don to the public.
The honorific 'Don' will not translate into English, but owning a restaurant does not make a man a Don - but, for example, being a judge does.)
The first time Margrethe was seen to receive a tip, the Seсora told her to turn it over - at the end of each week she would receive her percentage.
Margrethe came straight to me in the scullery. 'Alec, what shall I do? Tips were my main income in the Konge Knut and no one ever asked me to share them. Can she do this to me?'
I told her not to turn her tips over to the Seсora but to tell her that we would discuss it with her at the end of the day.
There is one advantage to being a peуn: You don't get fired over a disagreement with your boss. Certainly we could be fired... but that would simply lose the Valeras some ten thousand pesos they had invested in us.
By the end of the day I knew exactly what to say and how to say it - how Margrethe must say it, as it was another month before I soaked up enough Spanish to maintain a minimum conversation:
'Sir and Madam, we do not understand this ruling about gifts to me
|
