If the mountain won't come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain = if you aren't looking for a second job, then the second job is looking for you.

My Beth found me.

One July evening, she stopped by "Baha" to ask if anyone wanted to help some American girls in the mornings at "Beach Break Bakrie"—a tiny bakery I already mentioned in the "ocean" chapter. At that moment, I was huffing and puffing in the kitchen over a mountain of dishes that needed to be washed before the restaurant closed, and naturally, I didn't hear a thing. "Natasha, are you looking for a second job?" Yulia ran up to me. "Why?"

I am a crazy fan of everything related to creativity and creative people, be it artists, designers, photographers, florists, chefs, or school teachers who turn a boring paragraph into a real journey to new worlds. I am ready to listen to them for days, read long stories of their success in colorful magazines, and dream that someday I, too, will find myself and the "calling" of my life.

When I first stepped over the threshold of the bakery, I realized I had come to the right place. This place was exactly what the doctor ordered.

A strong scent of cinnamon and apples hit my nose; the girls were busy with their own tasks without any fuss—someone was peeling peaches, someone was drizzling caramel over a fresh batch of ten muffins, someone was chatting with customers, someone was making a banana smoothie, someone was washing baking sheets while swaying their hips to the music... Beth was frying bacon in the kitchenette for a "Bacon Egg and Cheese."

"Hey, who are you looking for?" asked a cheerful American girl who had just finished with a basket of peaches. "Are you still hiring people?" "Wait! Beeeeeeeeeeeth!"

I was hired. First for a couple of days a week, and later for all six. I loved it. I felt like part of an incredibly warm micro-organism that breathed powdered sugar and enjoyed every lived moment. In this place, there were no reprimands, no rushing, and no side-glances—everyone worked for their own pleasure, infecting customers with an airy lightness.

Beth opened the bakery about 4 years ago and worked in the kitchen with the girls herself. "You are like a fairy in your Kingdom of sweet treats," I once told her during another fit of affection. "Then it’s a Queendom," Beth smiled at me.

I loved staying after closing to help her prepare pastries for the next day, clean up, and listen to kind stories from the life of this wise and incredibly kind woman. I often pondered how she managed to organize the workflow at the bakery in such a way that everyone felt comfortable and relaxed, knowing that their modest contribution to this place was valued and that they were loved.

Loved—that must be the secret ingredient. Sincerely rejoice in a person's small victories with them, don't point out their mistakes while spitting with rage, give them a "free" muffin and a cup of juice at the end of the shift, and that person will do everything possible and impossible to become a little better. So that you can see them grow and be proud of them.

If that person isn't an idiot—a small correction.

I loved Beth and knew she loved me. A mother of three sons, she saw a daughter in me. We could braid each other's hair on days when customers could be counted on one hand and share impressions about everything while chewing on hot cookies.

I knew she had found the "calling" of her life.

Before I left, Beth called me over with the words: "There’s one good tradition here I keep on following – give gifts to special girls when they finish working here. You, my darling, are special, remember that," and handed me a box with a Pandora bracelet featuring a dark blue charm. I burst into tears.

When people ask me what Americans are like, I say—they are different. It is foolish to characterize an entire nation with a couple of adjectives, relying on the experience of interacting with only a few cultural representatives—there are always good and not-so-good exceptions to the rule—this has long been proven. Just as it has been proven that you can find a kindred spirit even across what seems to be an endless ocean.