Mert prepares a shared dinner in the apartment courtyard

At first Mert was planning a small dinner for Friday evening, but when it became clear that the neighbors in the building also wanted to join, the matter turned from an ordinary table prepared for a few friends into a bigger organization.

When he went down to the courtyard in the afternoon, he was arranging the place of the chairs on the one hand, and on the other trying calmly to complete what was still missing by noting one last time what everyone would bring.

Just then, because one of the electric lights was not working, one of the neighbors went to look for an extension cord, and someone else reminded them that it would not be very good to distribute the plates before cloths had been spread over the tables.

Mert first thought they would be delayed, but as the tasks were shared, he noticed that the work moved forward more easily; one person prepared the salad, one cut the bread, and another set up a small area in the corner so that the children who arrived could sit comfortably.

When the sun began to set, the atmosphere in the courtyard changed, because people had not only brought food but had also come willing to spend time together, and this gradually turned the rush of the preparation into a pleasant anticipation.

Just before the meal began, Mert looked around and saw that not everything was perfect, but he took a deep breath thinking that what mattered was not that the arrangement was flawless, but that the neighbors had created the same evening together.