SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

"Oh my God, you're really waking me up, I'm asleep," I cry out loud, throw the covers off me and jump in the shower. I quickly do my morning routine, start the car and I'm already cutting through the morning mist on the road between the vineyards. Right now, when I'm in a hurry, the traffic is waking up leisurely. The highway to Novo mesto is full of commuters who have made the journey for the bread they love. 

While waiting at the traffic lights, I watch the bouncing children, the frowning faces of the parents and the hard-working workers who are unnoticed, yet clean up the rubbish and litter behind us. Finally, the light turns green and the wheels turn to the next traffic light, which greets us again with a red light. A municipal worker drives a wheelbarrow, picks up rubbish with a stick and turns to the people with a smile. He looks so calm and happy to me. 

His work is important, but he is not pressing a keyboard, he is not looking for new ideas to sell, he is not looking for data in excel. He is out there day after day and year after year. The garbage is the same, the streets are the same. He is happy and smiling. If he brightens the day of just one passer-by, he has done more than everyone else on the street put together. 

I finally find a parking space and drive across the zebra to the office. The clock strikes the start of work, and I'm already feeling hungry. Of course, I forgot my coffee and breakfast. I will skip breakfast, obviously because I woke up late, but I will not skip coffee. It will give my stomach time to wake up without waking up too quickly, so I will be able to finish my snack or lunch without losing concentration. The hours pass with emails, phone calls and client visits. I had quite forgotten to eat, and because of the crowds, there has not even been an opportunity to do so. 

"Two more hours and I'm going home," I think to myself. "I'm going to empty the fridge at home to quench my waking tummy," I say out loud to myself. At that moment, Kyra comes bouncing through the door like only children can. She is the daughter of my friend Anne. She is a well-mannered girl, a pupil at Šmarjeta Primary School, and she is holding a paper bag with a warm hot dog in batter from a nearby bakery. She holds out her hand towards me and says: "This is for you, so you won't go hungry." This little girl draws a wide smile of surprise and gratitude on my face. Because she was in a hurry to go to training, she immediately dashed out the door and into the street and was gone. All I could say was, "Thank you, Kyra, thank you!" 

How did she know I needed something to put under my teeth? Did I look so frail through the window? I don't know, but I am really grateful to her. The smell from the bag wakes me up and I immediately set about cleaning up the contents. That hot dog was the best! Later I wrote to her mum to thank her, but she didn't even know about her daughter's action. Kyra took the bus from Šmarjeta for free, because the driver didn't want to spend precious change. So he, through this nice act, enabled her to share the good and buy me a snack. 

Even now, as I write these lines, my heart is warm. Then, that day, I also continued the chain of good deeds and bought a magazine from a homeless woman. Kings of the Street. This story can be an inspiration to all of us on how good begets good. How a little attention, maybe just a smile, a hello or a change, can make someone's day. May the goodness of people and the kind word roll through us like a snowball rolling down a valley.

Let us be people of the heart, not of greed. Be man to man. 

Thank you, Kyra, thank you. 

Mario Skušek, 1. 3. 2025