(short story review)

Olesya Markovych’s short story ‘The Waiter’ was included in the collection ‘Terra Inclusion,’ published in 2020 by the ‘12 Publishing Center’ publishing house. The work won the ‘Coronation of the Word’ competition in the ‘Inclusive stories’ special award category.

The plot is based on the story of a young guy Lyosha, who dreamed of getting a job. It would seem that nothing too difficult and extraordinary. However, Lyosha had a congenital defect that worried both his administrator and the clients. The active work of the waiter, in the opinion of the head, Galina Ivanovna, was definitely not connected with the problematic movement of the boy, which he tried diligently to hide. So the day X is approaching, when Lyosha has to show himself as an excellent worker and serve the banquet himself.

From the memories of the main character, you can see not only the difficult fate of an orphan with a disability, who spent all his childhood waiting for his mother and hearing that even “normal” people can’t find a job, but also the boy’s good and determined character. The author showed the readers a purposeful, responsible, intelligent young man with an unusual destiny, who has quite ordinary desires and dreams. She says that people with disabilities are not a sentence for society. Lyosha wants and can work. And the skeptical views of the administrator or the sharp remarks of one client definitely do not frighten him.

It is not for nothing that Olesya Markovych focuses on the woman celebrating the anniversary, who noticed the waiter’s unusual behavior. At this moment, it is clear that the heroine, most likely, has a boyfriend. This is reminiscent of the ending of the poem “Kateryna” by Taras Shevchenko, when Ivan recognized his son by looking into his eyes and still refused him. So is Lyosha’s client. She remembers the same little girl well and does not consider it necessary to tell the boy the truth.

So, in my opinion, the story is really worthy of winning, despite the expected ending. It reveals the real picture of society, which sees first the disability and only later the person himself. Society is ready to immediately perceive people with disabilities as unworkable natural material without prospects and hopes. While they are the same as those born without any diagnoses and without irreparable injuries.

At the same time, I like that Olesya Markovych portrayed the main character without imposing pity, heroism, or morbidity on him. This is just a young man who wants to achieve his goal and meets unpleasant turns on the path of life.