Truly Wonderful

Dimitris' flight from London arrives slightly late at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport in Athens. His connecting flight to Iraklion is in two hours, so he decides to have a coffee.

Relaxing on a sofa with coffee and a newspaper, he hears: "Hey Dimitris, is that you?"

The deep male voice startles him, and he looks up from the paper, his eyebrows almost connecting as he tries to place the man.  Suddenly, his eyes open wide in recognition.  "Oh my goodness. Yiorgos Papadakis, is it really you?"

Dimitris puts the paper down and stands to embrace his old buddy, spilling some coffee in the process.  

"How are you, you wild beast? Where have you been all this time?" Yiorgos asks, patting his friend on the shoulder.

"Well Yiorgos, I'll tell you. After high school I went to London. Didn’t you hear about it?” Dimitris asks with a touch of arrogance.

“No Dimitri. Where I live, news doesn't reach us that easy. So tell me about London," Yiorgos asks with curiosity.

“Well, after finishing my studies in Physics at Oxford I got a scholarship to Yale in America," Dimitris says boastfully. Then, he went on about how he taught at Harvard for ten years, about doing research for NASA where he got to know the then president Bill Clinton and about meeting Einstein's son, a "plumbing engineer," and how he worked closely with him too and blah… blah.  

Poor Yiorgos now starts sliding down his seat feeling pretty insignificant. Embarrassed, he stares at his rough, work-frazzled hands.  

“Finally," Dimitris continues, "after doing all that, I decided to come back here and live close to nature. So a few years back I bought 50 stremmata in Ierapetra where I planted my olive trees and my vines. I also built my farmhouse with a stone oven where I bake my bread. And I have chickens and other animals. And oh, I forgot! I also make my own wine…a ruby red, truly wonderful!"

Now Yiorgos slowly straightens up and, befuddled, asks, "Christ Almighty Dimitris. You went to Oxford and Harvard and NASA…you palled around with that fellow Einstein so you could come back here and get what I've had all my life?" Yiorgos says crossing himself.  "Just look at me Dimitris," Yiorgos says still crossing himself. "I got 50 stremmata from my father, with olive trees and vines and a farm house. I got animals too. Because you see, my father is too old now to work the land. Ah, I forgot to tell you… I also make my own wine… a ruby red …truly wonderful."

Dimitris looks at him thoughtfully. He starts to answer but nothing comes out. For the first time in his life Dimitris doesn't have the last word!