The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe by Alexander McCall Smith

“There will be no problem with that. Today, tomorrow—whenever you want to see him, I will bring him for an interview. You will be very pleased with him.”
    â€œWhat is his name, Rra?”
    She noticed that Mr. Disang looked away.
    â€œWell, Rra: What is he called?”
    Mr. Disang cleared his throat. “He is called Thomas.”
    â€œThomas what, Rra?”
    This was greeted by a long silence. Then Mma Makutsi said, “Thomas what, Rra? People are not just called Thomas—unless they are in the Bible.”
    Mr. Disang laughed nervously. “Oh, that is very funny, Mma. People in the Bible have only one name—that is quite true. They are not called Makutsi or Ramotswe …”
    â€œOr Disang,” supplied Mma Makutsi.
    â€œNo,” said Mr. Disang. “There are no Disangs in the Bible.”
    â€œWell?” asked Mma Makutsi. “What is his family name, Rra? Thomas what?”
    Mr. Disang fingered his tie. “I am not quite sure, Mma. I don’t think he uses one.” He suddenly brightened, as if an idea had occurred to him. “No, that’s right. He’s one of these people who don’t really use a family name any more. I believe they feel that it’s old-fashioned.”
    Mma Makutsi’s eyes widened. “Old-fashioned? What’s old-fashioned about having a family name? Maybe they think it’s old-fashioned to have family at all—these people who have no family name. They’re everywhere, it seems. Pah!”
    Mr. Disang had not expected quite so spirited a response. “Don’t blame me, Mma. I always use my family name, as you know, but these chefs are very … very creative people. They have creative views.”
    Mma Makutsi was not convinced. “I think he may be one of these people with an embarrassing name. You come across them, you know. I came across somebody the other day whose first name was Voetsek. Can you imagine being called that?”
Voetsek
was the word widely used in southern Africa to tell people to go away. It was a very abrupt, dismissive word.
    Mr. Disang said he thought that was cruel. “What are parents thinking of when they call a child something like that?”
    Mma Makutsi took the view that they were not thinking at all. “Many people do not think,” she observed. “They get up in the morning and there is nothing in their heads—nothing. It is a big problem.”
    â€œBut we must soldier on,” said Mr. Disang. “Those of us who are always thinking must bear the burden for them.” He sighed. “Sometimes it is very hard, Mma—very hard.”
    â€œI suppose that’s true,” said Mma Makutsi. “Can you ask this Thomas Nobody to come and see me tomorrow?”
    Mr. Disang beamed with pleasure. “I can do that, Mma. And he will cook something for you so that you can see how good he is.”
    The offer reassured her. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, she thought. And then she tried to remember where she had come across that saying before; was it something that Clovis Andersen had said in
The Principles of Private Detection
? It certainly had the Andersen ring to it.
All cats are grey in the dark
, he had written in one chapter.
So remember that how much you can see of a situation depends on how much light you can shine upon it.
Well, that was clearly true, just as she felt that the proof of the pudding was in the eating, especially when it came to the appointment of a chef. She smiled at the thought. She might ask this Thomas Whoever to make her a pudding at his interview and then she could test it right there and then and say,
The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Of course, the chef might not see the humour, but then Mma Makutsi felt that men often failed to grasp these finer points until they were explained to them. That was not to think less of men, of course—it was simply the way things were.

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