Among them, a special place belongs to Mr Rudy Kovacic from Martinje vas near Mokronog, who has been selling newspapers at the Ljubljana market for almost four decades. He is always in a good mood, friendly, easy-going and believes in people's honesty. He never counts the money. He knows that there is a tip next to it, for which he thanks in his own way, saying: 'Well, this will do. Fine, fine."
Mr Rudi is an entrepreneur driven by common sense. There is no shortage of other shops and kiosks nearby. But he's the one we like to stop at. Because we know his story and we want to help him, without diminishing the feeling that he is responsible for his own sales. By his attitude towards his customers and by his sincere gratitude with every purchase. It's really nice to hear him say after every newspaper he sells: 'There will be traffic today. It will, it will. Fine, yes." It is also because of this phrase that I wait until Saturday to buy my weekly magazines from Rudy.
The shopkeepers in his immediate neighbourhood under Plečnik's arcades know how important customers are to Rudi. A story I witnessed on one of my Saturday visits to the market illustrates the point very well.. He was not at work when I passed his stand. And as I was looking around to see where he was, the honey seller came from the other end and explained that Rudi had jumped into the building opposite and would be right back. Why had he done that? So that I wouldn't leave too quickly and Rudi would be left without a piece of traffic.
When Rudi appears at the door of the building, the aforementioned shop assistant shouts loudly at him to hurry up because he has a customer waiting for him. And Rudi comes in with a pot of fragrant coffee and explains to me, smiling, that the coffee is prepared by the clerks who work in the building next door. And he repeats this to me at least three times so that I don't overhear. What gratitude and what respect for these ladies and their work. The very opposite of the generalisations and belittling of people in the so-called public sector that we often see today.
I don't know why I was a little surprised at that. But when it turns out time and again that you don't need anything more than simply being human to show this kind of attention and care for others. And Rudi is human. Modest, but extremely proud of his talents and genuinely happy when you remind him of them. When I mentioned to him that I knew how beautifully he sang, he lit up and started waving his arms like he did when he was a choirmaster. And he pointed out that this is why he still bends down and waves a lot. And he writes really well, too, as you can see from his signature confirming his agreement to the publication of this story. And in expressing my delight at his beautiful handwriting, I have learnt something new again. That this is, in fact, a documentary font, which I had never heard of before that moment.
So let us not overlook individuals like Rudi. There is immeasurable richness in them. From them we will learn how fulfilling it is to live a modest life, without the constant rush, yet hard-working, without the glamour, the showy outward appearance, the big words that we often do not even understand ourselves. And we will learn what it means to live the fundamental human values. If we just take a few minutes to chat. And of course buy a newspaper or magazine.
Tatjana Kolenc, 7. 2. 2025
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