It has already been 45 years since Mrs. Rima has been working in the
economic field. She has spent 16 years working in the cafeteria of the
National Assembly: first at the Supreme Council then the National
Assembly. Mrs. Rima is probably one of the exceptional people out there
who has seen all the deputies and ministers, who were once just
considered typical and then went on to become ministers and officials
holding different offices. On October 10, Mrs. Rima turns 70 years old.
“I have worked here since I was 14 years old. I love my job,” she says.
Everyone treats her with respect at the National Assembly. If she is
absent for one day, everyone gets worried and hopes that nothing bad
happens to her. Mrs. Rima also gets worried if anyone from the
cafeteria does not come for a couple of days. She remembers everyone by
their names, preferences….She remembers one by one what type of coffee
each deputy likes-with or without sugar, who likes eating what… “The
National Assembly is just like the family. I have five children and
each one likes and demands eating different types of food. The same
goes for deputies. I would not say that the deputies insist on eating
expensive foods. They are very modest. If there is soup, they eat soup.
If it is borsh (Russian soup), they will eat borsh, spas (Armenian
soup), then they will eat spas. As for pastries, we offer khachapuri
(Georgian food), gata (Eastern cake(also Armenian) with filling made of
flour, butter and sugar),bulki (raisin bread)….Sadoyan always gets
potato filled khachapuri, with tan (yogurt drink) or tea and is
satisfied with that. He is not a big eater. Everyone likes the tan
prepared by the cafeteria for some reason. No matter where the deputies
go out to eat, they always come back to the cafeteria to drink tan. I
think there is nothing fishy here,” says Mrs. Rima. During Passover,
The National Assembly cafeteria prepares a special menu, including
vegetable appetizers prepared with vegetable oil because the deputies,
especially the federalists, keep a fast. But we found out from Mrs.
Rima that the deputies are not the ones keeping fast, but rather, the
journalists.
“168 hours” weekly asked Mrs. Rima which National Assembly session and
which deputies she favored the most. “To be honest, I see no difference
in any of them. I grow at the same rate as they do and I see no
difference in them being deputies and me a cafeteria worker. They are
all the same for me, just like my relatives-despite which political
party they belong to, their orientation and even their acts. They enter
the cafeteria just like my children. I have no speculations. I do so
many things for them. I can say no to all that, but I do it for them so
they can feel good and know that someone actually cares about them. I
treat everyone that way.” Mrs. Rima treats all journalists with
respect. “The journalists are special to me despite what newspaper or
television network. The journalists themselves enter the cafeteria with
different moods. One person is mad, the other a little more lightened
up….I treat them with care also. I sit and talk with them for a while
and at the end they all hug me and go out happily. This kind of respect
is not just for my pretty eyes, but rather for how I treat them. The
cafeteria worker has to be a good psychologist, especially someone
working in commerce. You have to see them to the door in a good mood so
they can come back again,” affirms Mrs. Rima. If one of the deputies
feels bad the previous day, Mrs. Rima draws her attention to that
deputy and serves the food with care. “As soon as I know that something
bad has happened to one of the deputies, I feel bad. It feels like the
bad thing that has happened has also occurred to me. That is how sad I
get. They are all like my children. It has been four-five years that I
have been feeding them and caring for them like a parent does. They
respect me and I respect them back. Seriously, I get really heartfelt
when I find out something has happened to any one of them,” says Mrs.
Rima. Besides all of this, many go to Mrs. Rima not only to eat, but
also to relieve some stress. “When the deputy enters the buffet, you
have to look in his fact and see how you can serve him, in what way,
and what kind of psychological help is needed so that he can relieve
some of the stress that he has. After all, he has come to the buffet
angry at something. I always say “Dear boy”, “Dear child” to them. I do
everything by laughing and I make them laugh at the same time so they
can feel better. It is wrong when they say that the deputies don’t
work. They work very hard. It doesn’t matter if they don’t sit at the
National Assembly sessions. The microphones are heard everywhere and
the deputies sitting in the buffet listen. When they need to be in the
hall, they don’t even think about finishing their meal. They get up and
leave. Why is it so important for them to be in the hall?” said Mrs.
Rima as she reflected upon the accusations about deputies not doing
their job.
Until the National Assembly’s third session, as mentioned by Mrs. Rima,
all the co-presidents of the National Assembly have eaten at the
buffet. Now, they never go down to the buffet. We asked Mrs. Rima to
try and remember what did Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Vano Siradeghyan,
Khosrov Harutyunyan prefer to eat. She replied: “They were very thrifty
when it came to eating. I have never seen such squandering. There have
been times when I have asked ‘What would you like to eat?’ and they
have replied ‘Anything you bring us’. This is 100% true. Can you
believe that? Vano Siradeghyan also liked eating potato filled
khachapuri with some tan (yogurt milk). Babken Ararktsyan liked to
drink akroshka (yogurt drink mixed with cucumbers), lemonade, and
coffee. They never demanded anything fancy. They used to stay in the
National Assembly until 6 p.m. in the evening. It wasn’t like they had
somewhere else to go eat and they were just there to make it seem like
they liked eating there. Everyone was satisfied with the food served at
the buffet. At that time, Babken Ararktsyan used to come down to the
buffet and eat. If anyone tried to serve him as an act of hospitality,
he did not let them and said that he could serve himself,” says Mrs.
Rima. Mrs. Rima does not follow up on the bills being passed because
for one, she is not interested in them, and second, she is always busy.
“I am always busy serving people. If I ever do something wrong, the
customers will leave unhappy. The new owner of the buffet is very
organized and picky. If even a napkin is set crooked on the table, the
buffet worker has to stay put.”
Mrs. Rima has had some health problems since the events that took place
on October 27, 1999. “The hall is located above the cafeteria. During
the shootings, I was running from one place to the other. October 27
made a huge impact on me.” She adds: “I care for Andranik Manukyan as
if he were my child. He doesn’t eat well. When I make him something, I
tell him to eat so he can feel better.”