A Spectacular Service, Compliments of Ireland
There have been many visitors to Ireland who have admitted to leaving their heart behind. When guest blogger Charles Berkoff visited, he didn’t misplace his heart, but he did misplace his glasses. Little did he know that leaving his specs on a Dublin bus would tell him all he needed to know about Irish hospitality…
I can’t blame Dublin for the poor judgment I showed 50 years ago. It just happened to be where and when my ex-wife and I spent our honeymoon. Right place. Wrong woman. Now it was time to share the city’s charms with my new wife. Right place. Right woman.
But, as wonderful as Dublin is to visit, if you’re going to spend much of your time on legs, be sure to take an umbrella. By our third day of drizzle we were ready for something drier. While a Martini came to mind, we opted for a bus tour of the city. The Dublin Bus Company offers an appealing Hop On-Hop Off service that stops at most of the city’s popular attractions. Their open-topped, double-decker buses were clearly not made for rainy days, but we happily found front row seats, which were under cover. Our driver provided an informative commentary, and even a traditional Irish song or two. I’d never heard ‘Molly Malone,’ sung with so much feeling. And seeing her statue on Grafton Street brought back to mind my abortive attempts to seduce another Molly back when I wore a taller man’s clothes. [Yes, shrinkage happens] [Sigh.]
Later, back in the hotel, I realized that I had lost my prescription reading glasses – alas, a frequent event for me – most likely they’d slipped out of my coat on the bus. Since my name, address, and telephone number were in the glasses case, they could at least be identified if anyone turned them in. I called the company the next day, our last in Dublin. But no glasses. They did tell me that there were plenty of glasses next door, but the pub needed them for their Guinness customers. I’ll send an email about the glasses when I’m back home, I thought. Meanwhile, we decided to check out that pub next door. In Dublin, that’s what one should be doing anyway – there’s nothing more fulfilling than a freshly pulled pint of Guinness.
Molly Malone selling Cockles and Mussels in Dublin's City Centre
The day after, back in Florida, we got a strange telephone call. Was the Dodge automobile still for sale? We had no Dodge – for sale or otherwise. Apparently, an ad for one in that morning’s paper had mistakenly given our number.
I tried to push the Dodge out of my mind, but it’s a heavy car, after all. Distraction came as I remembered I still needed to write my email to Dublin. But, at that moment, events assumed a distinctively surreal quality. A stranger walked up our driveway and rang the doorbell. Damn, I thought, that bloody car ad again! One of those Artful Dodgers must have done a ‘reverse phone lookup,’ and found our street address. Highly motor-vated, I guess.
I opened the door, hesitantly.
“Is it Dr Berkoff, then?” the young man asked in a soft, Irish brogue.
“Er … yes it is,” I replied, wondering why an Irishman was so determined to buy a Dodge.
“With the compliments of the Dublin Bus Company,” he said with an impish smile, holding out my glasses case. My total confusion must have been very apparent, and our visitor clearly savored the moment.
‘…there were plenty of glasses next door, but the pub needed them for their Guinness customers…’
Tony Hession, a Dublin Bus driver, explained: he had just come off his shift and heard his inspector Kevin mention “another pair of glasses left behind by an American; lives in Florida.”
“Oh, where in Florida?” Patrick asked.
“Sarasota – wherever that is.”
“Sure, I’ll be there next weekend,” said Patrick, who, it turns out, has a holiday home in Sarasota that he and his family visit often.
We plan to meet them again on their next trip over; and I’ve been getting to know a lot more about the life of a Dublin bus driver.
Yes, we, too, wondered how Patrick could afford such a lifestyle. But then who knows what tourists leave behind on Dublin buses. In any event, the Dublin Bus Company’s spectacle service is, well, spectacular!
About the Author: Charles Berkoff was born a cockney in London, England, before being educated to respectability at Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine of the University of London (PhD, Chemistry). When they told him he should go far, he didn’t realize they wanted him to. In fact, they insisted. And so he left the UK for Baltimore and The Johns Hopkins University, where he first tasted American life as a Fulbright Research Fellow. He is currently President & CEO of CEBRAL, Inc., a Sarasota-based pharmaceutical/ biotechnology consulting group specializing in drug discovery and development.
Charles has published some 50 scientific papers in international journals, 20 patents, and two dozen or so off-beat articles; the latter, humorous writings on the worlds of science, technology, medicine, tennis, fairy tales, travel and Florida wildlife. After many years in Pennsylvania, Charles now lives in edenic Sarasota, Florida, with his wife, Heide, and his two embarrassed tennis racquets.
In the summer of 2009, we visited the Aran Islands for a couple of days. After an afternoon spent photographing stone walls, we put in a little shopping. Shorty after leaving the Aran Sweater Shop, I realized that I had left my camera there will trying something on.
I returned to the shop, but couldn’t locate the camera, even with the willing help of one of the staff. I left my name, address, and the make and model of the camera, and departed disappointed that I had lost all of my pictures. SIx weeks later, I gave up and forgot about the camera.
Flash forward to Dec 30, 2010. I went out on my front porch, looked down, and noticed a small box. Figuring that I had received a late Christmas gift — and in a way, I had — t opened the box. There, carefully wrapped in protected bubble plastic, was my camera, complete with a disc of photographs of Aran walls.
I marveled at the pure thoughtfulness of the act, and I mean the word “pure” literally. It was the kind of thing that one does if you’re Irish — the instinctive kindness that comes as a matter of course. It is why I tell people to go to Ireland, because as beautiful as the country is, so are people the people a true wonder.
Hey Paul! What a great story – really glad you sent this on! Random acts of kindness, that kind of sums it all up, really! I remember when we had the big snow, I got calls from friends asking if my mum needed anything dropped in while they were passing – they’d never met her, and only knew where she lived. It just proved to me that it’s always about the people…
My husband were going to park for a few minutes in front of a drugstore and realized we didnt have any change.. an Irish policeman was coming down the street and i told him we would only be a few minutes. he said tell you what I’ll pay for the meter and you spend as much time as you need. try that in america.
This article was a joy to read. It had so many play-on- words, that I chuckled again and again as I read it.
While in a cab in Dublin a few years ago, I mentioned to my brother that I wished I had brought a sweater. It had turned a bit cold and we still had more pubs to visit. The cab driver reach back with a warm sweater in his hand for me. “Here ya go Lass! Keep warm and have a grand night….and keep the sweater!”
Now how sweet was that!!! I did keep warm and I had a grand night indeed. Such wonderful,warm people. Ireland , I love you.
Hey Sandra, that is soooo sweet! Do you mind if I pass that to the other guys in Tourism Ireland, as they’d love to hear about your story, too? Love the chatter from the cabbies in Ireland, travelled from Derry to Coleraine recently, and I think me and the driver knew our entire life histories by the end of it! Glad some things will never change…
The Irish people…it’s what makes Ireland one of the most wonderful places in the world. One of my very first experiences of the warmth and friendliness that defines the Irish people…Getting off a bus on a damp and windy day in Cahir, with a bag in each hand and my scarf flapping in the breeze. An older women walking along the street stopped, came up to me and grabbed at my scarf. Being a New Yorker, I was about to use one of my bags to ward off the “mugger”, when she wrapped the scarf around my neck, tied and tucked it into my coat and said, “It’s cold out today, Love.”
Just like Mammy used to do it to me, and I do to my own kids…lovely! Thanks a million for sharing it with us, Diane.
Nothing like a Dublin cabbie! Once during a business trip, I hopped into one and asked to be taken to the Gate Theatre.. “Shadow of a Gunman!” the cabbie exclaimed, and then gave a me an avid review of the performance all the way to the theatre.
We really like what you write on here. I try and come back to your site every day so keep up the good writing!
When we leave home and begin making a life for ourselves there will be as much or as little travel as required. You may travel only to and from work except for vacation time. Or you may find ways to spend every available moment travelling somewhere or other. It really depends on how much you are curious about the rest of the world and what people are doing there. Travel to dublin last year enriched me with lovely experience as i get to know about city’s rich culture and it also some information on various cultural and heritage sites like Dublin Castle, world-renowned National Wax Museum and the captivating Phoenix Park.
I havent yet visited ireland but would love to sometime soon
Thanks for sharing such a nice blog. Really Dublin is a wonderful Place to visit…
I was attending a trade show event in Dublin and after the event we were transported to a central hotel where most of the folks were staying. When I exited the bus I asked the driver where i could catch a cab. Instead of showing me to a cab stand he told me That this was his last trip and he could give me a lift to my destination. I told him that i was staying on the other side of Dublin with a relative and it would be quite a bit out of his way. He told me it would be no trouble and the two of us crossed Dublin in a double-decker bus. We had a nice chat and upon arriving at my destination tried to give him a bit for the ride, he would have nothing to do with it. I thanked him again for his kindness and asked him if he would at least allow me to pay for his next pint, that he could accept.