Things, once again, got totally out of hand.
I came to Brasilia for President Lula’s inauguration and to visit family and friends.
I didn’t intend to spend too much time on the actual inauguration event. I’m terrified of crowds. The plan was to stop by, contemplate the sea of people, come back and watch the rest in front of the TV, with plenty of cold beer.
On Thursday (29/12), I ran into Gil Guimarães. He, who has several restaurants in the Federal District, took me to Bar Superquadra, in Asa Norte. We sat at a table with Tonico Lichtsztejn, owner of the bar, a Corinthian figurehead.
Beer goes, beer comes, I find out that Superquadra would run the ranks of the VIP area of the Festival of the Future, better known as Lulapalooza.
So Tonico lets me this one: “Marcão, do you want to come in with us? I can make you the kitchen help”.
Upalelê. O-bo-vio yes!
The arrangement was to get there by mid-afternoon, as the bar staff had to handle the movement. As for me, well, I would be a guest with a cook bracelet. That’s what I thought.
On the day of the inauguration, around 1 pm, I receive a zap from Tonico. He asks me to get to the meeting point right away, at the bar in Asa Norte, as things were going on at the event. He needed to get there soon to put out the fire.
I go to Superquadra and settle in with Tonico, who was drinking with three friends. He says what I expected to hear: “So… you were supposed to be invite only, but you’re going to have to work… people are too swamped.”
We walked down the Esplanada dos Ministérios and arrived at the Superquadra tent, behind the show’s stage. The people in the queue, which was gigantic, applaud the appearance of four people to relieve the chaos.
But there was a problem: I’m not a cook.
Or rather, problem for me, not for Tonico. He had a role for me. Tonico gave me the finished orders; I delivered them to customers.
And it’s time to deliver a hamburger. And he fills a waxed paper boat with the french fries that came from the kitchen. And he shouts the command number to see if anyone shows up. And it melts from sweating in the heat of the barbecue. And he hears a complaint from the customer who wanted the hamburger well done. And he’s going to barter with the neighbors of the Quatro Poderes brewery.
I got paid in hamburgers and chips – both excellent.
The suffocation lasted an hour and a half, until the flow returned to normal. Then I slipped away and went to get the crowd back there, from the enclosure below the stage, right when the official ceremony was playing the National Anthem.
It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
As I was walking back to the covered area, a guy stopped me, “Man, the hamburger was so damn good.”
I tried to say that I ended up there as a kid, that there was no merit in the thing. He insisted: “It was really good.”
I saw no choice but to drop that magic word: “Thank you.”
I repeat: thank you.
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I have worked as a journalist for over 10 years, and my work has been featured on many different news websites. I am also an author, and my work has been published in several books. I specialize in opinion writing, and I often write about current events and controversial topics. I am a very well-rounded writer, and I have a lot of experience in different areas of journalism. I am a very hard worker, and I am always willing to put in the extra effort to get the job done.
