I was sitting recently with a friend in a well-known coffee shop in Venice, Italy. 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 were rather perplexed by this order and observed that he was served with one cup of coffee but paid for two. As soon as he left, the waiter attached a piece of paper on the wall saying “One coffee.”

While we were still there, a couple of women entered and ordered three cups of coffee, two for the table and one for the wall. They had the two cups of coffee but paid for three and left. This time also, the waiter did the same; he pasted a piece of paper on the wall saying, “One coffee.”

It was something unique and mystifying for us. We finished our coffee, paid the bill and left.

A few days later, we had occasion 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 his usual respect and affability. 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 a box. The matter became clear. The great respect for the needy shown by the inhabitants of this town had a striking effect on us. Ponder upon the need of this man. He enters the coffee shop without having to lower his self-esteem by asking for a free cup of coffee and without even knowing who gave it to him. He simply looked at the wall, placed an order for himself, enjoyed his coffee and left.