“A La Ordene”
Or
“At Your Service”
A number of years ago on a trip to Venezuela, Val and I would hear
“a la ordene” said many times a day. It was used after we ordered a meal, got a hotel room or just thanked someone for accommodating something we wanted. We knew it meant “at your service” but it took a special circumstance to show us what it really meant.
Venezuela’s bus system can take you almost anywhere in the country. We used it to travel throughout the country and within the cities. On arriving in Caracas we asked for directions to a particular bus to continue on our journey. A lady was kind enough to say “I’ll take you to the bus”. We hurried through the streets of Caracas, as its population of five million people and a reputation for crime had made us nervous.
Over a kilometer later, the lady lead us to the bus we were seeking. We thanked her for her help and she said “a la ordene”, as we had heard many times before. As we parted, I asked which bus she was taking and where she was heading from here. Her response was not what we expected. The previous bus terminal we had been brought from was her destination.
Without any thought to her own time and only a desire to help a stranger she had gone over a kilometer out of her way to help us find our way. After all that she had simply said “a la ordene” - “At Your Service”.
We have taken “At Your Service” as our desire to help you in your move as this lady had helped us in our journey.
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