thisweekinitaly.com

Cold Wave

Italy has had a cold wave. In the northern mountains temperatures got down
to -8 Fahrenheit. Pistoia had a dusting of snow one day and a real snow
storm (about 2-3″) another day. It has been many years since there was
such a storm. Of course, it tends to melt quickly except in places highly
shaded. Nobody owns a snow shovel here.

The snow storm began soon after I arrived at the dentist’s for an
appointment.
When I left the dentist’s office two hours later (appointments go more
slowly here), there was a good cover of snow and it was still snowing hard.
I had ridden my bike to the appointment so I got on my bike for the trip
home. All the traffic was
at a virtual standstill. I was able to ride down the middle of the road
between the stopped cars. I heard people saying “look! he’s riding a
bicycle.”
Some students threw snowballs at me. It was as if I was doing an amazing
feat. One thing was clear — nobody in a car or on foot was traveling as
fast as I was.

The Chocolate Festival

I went to a festival of regional chocolate makers in a nearby town. As I
have mentioned before, candy making is seen as a skilled craft in Italy.
There were several large rooms in which chocolate makers had booths where
one could sample (or buy) their wares. At one of these rooms, there were
two guards at the entrance who only admitted about 20 people at a time to
avoid overcrowding within the room. Here I got my first real taste of the
problem of Italians and forming a line. Often in Italy, there are “take a
number”
systems in stores or offices with a crowd. Here there was no “take
a number” system. In the USA, the crowd would have formed a line outside
the door. Here there was simply a mass, so closely packed together that
you could not move. When the guards allowed a new group to enter, the mass
simply pushed forward as a single body. This was tantamount to a “Hell
for Claustrophobics.”

Teaching Writing in Italy

A friend tells me that at her daughter’s high school they require
compositions,
but they don’t teach writing. Compositions are graded on their content
and often longer is better. In the USA, the teaching of writing usually
emphasizes a direct, clear style. A common criticism of a teacher is “too
wordy.” An A paper in the USA might be barely a passing paper in Italy.
When I was in College, I remember looking at the philosophy examination
paper of the student who was the number one student in his class. I was
amazed at how short his answers were. Of course, he did not have to write
down “everything he knew” (in the hope that the “right” answer would be
somewhere in this compilation) because he could select the exact points
that were important for the question. He was the number one student in
the USA, but in Italy he would have had to change his style to be anywhere
near
the top.

The Face Lift

Italy’s leader, Silvio Berlusconi, took some time off to have a face life.
Apparently his opponents criticized this action. After Silvio returned,
he presided at the national meeting of his political party. He has a
tendency
to call all those to the left of him “communists.” So in is speech he said
that although they had tried to change their image, the communists were
still communists at heart — their “face life” had been unsuccessful.
Of course, the underlying gibe was that his “face life” was successful.
Most people, although not all, in Tuscany hate Silvio, but I do find him
more entertaining than most other politicians.

The Day of Memory

I attended some events of the Day of Memory which commemorated the
anniversary
of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Russian Army in 1944. In Italy,
manifestations of anti-semitism are far fewer than in France (which has a
much bigger Muslim
population), but they occur nevertheless. One example was an anti-semitic
banner held up by soccer hooligans at a match. I think, ironically, that
this example may be a manifestation of the success of the campaign to
counter
anti-semitism. As public displays of anti-semitism become more condemned,
then such displays become more evil, more naughty. Just as those who write
graffiti use the worst swear words (not “hell” or “damm”), so the hooligans
who want to say to the world “we are BAD!!” are drawn to anti-Semitic
phrases
as way to make their point. By making something outrageous and disgusting
(as it should be seen), you also make it more attractive to a certain
element
of society.

Junk Mail

I get almost no mail that originates in Italy, but in looking at what is
in the mail boxes of others, I think there is far less junk mail.
Advertising
flyers are often distributed directly by the stores into the mail boxes
(I am not sure if this is done by postal employees or by a service hired by
the stores.).
But Italians in general are much less likely to buy a product by mail (or
over the computer). Italians like to see and touch what they buy. So you
don’t see a profusion of mail order catalogs and offers.

At Last A Extra Set of Keys

It takes 3 keys for me to get from the front door of my building into my
apartment. One of these ( a type I have never seen in the USA) is very
difficult to duplicate. I tried unsuccessfully last year to do so.
Unfortunately I sometimes forget to take my keys when
I leave the apartment so I have to ring the doorbell of my landlords (who
live next door) to let me in. If they are not at home, I have to wait until
they return. If it is late at night, I end up getting them out of bed.

GOOD NEWS. On the fourth time I tried to get it duplicated, I finally got
a usable copy of the one troublesome key. Now finally I have an extra set
of keys that I keep on my bike in the basement of the building (with a copy
of the exterior key in my wallet). A far cry from USA where I never locked
my doors and thus never got in the habit of taking keys with me as I left
the house.

The University of Free Time

This is an adult education program in Pistoia. I signed up for a course
recommended by a friend who is also taking it. The title is Contemporary
History. It is not a survey but a set of nine lectures on selected topics.
Here are some sample topics: 1956 –The Suez Crisis and the Hungarian
Revolt, The New Media and the Transformation of Society, The Fall of the
Berlin Wall and the Dissolution of the Russian Empire. But there are also
topics I did not understand: The Case of Mattei, The Case of Calvi, and
The Case of Gardini. It turns out that all these were financial scandals
in Italy. involving oil, chemicals, and banking. In one case the key actor
died in a helicopter crash that raised suspicions. In another case, the
main figure was murdered in London in the 1970s– a crime never solved
that still is subject to speculation in the news here. The final session
will be
on the latest scandal, Parmalat.

Now we have had similar scandals in the USA. In the 1950s there was Billie
Sol Estes and the phantom fertilizer tanks. In the 1960s we had Tino
DeAngelis
and the phantom salad oil. In the 1990s there were TV evangelists and the
phantom
funds used for charity. Even bigger were Enron and the Savings and Loan
scandals. All this being said, I doubt that a course on selected topics
in contemporary history in the USA would have four of nine sessions
on such scandals. These scandals appeal to the Italian love of conspiracy
and plots so that they have a longevity far different than in the USA.

Corrections

Unlike the daily newspapers that bury their corrections in the middle of
the paper, I put them right up front. First, it is a sign of how little
attention I pay to movie stars that I misspelled Kevin Costner’s name as
“Cosner.” Someone wrote to inform me that the blond I saw him with is his
fiancé’ who is about 20 years younger than he. I guess that means there
is no hope for her becoming interested in me.

I wrote that under the new law the public cigarette machines are working
only from 7 am to 9 pm. In fact they are working only from 9 pm to 7 am.
I guess the idea is that by 9 pm the minors are already safely at home,
and they don’t get out of the house before 7 am. I would be, nevertheless,
astounded if this new law in fact affects smoking among minors.

An Account of Murder

In an American newspaper one might see the following story:

Harold Smith, 43, last night murdered his ex wife Maria and her companion
Tom Black as they returned with her two children ages 3 and 5 to her home
at 322 Maple Street after a dinner with friends …

Here is how it was reported in Italy:

A full scale ambush to murder the man who had taken his position in the
heart and by now in the life of his wife. An execution consummated in the
street of the residential quarter of Monteverde in Rome in front of the
eyes of their two children, ages 3 and 5, as they returned home with the
mother accompanied by her lover after a dinner with friends.

Such crimes seem very common in Italy, but this may be simply because
(unlike in the USA) they are all reported as national news.

The New Postal Rates (contd.)

The Post Office still does not have 80 cent Priority Mail stamps for the
new rate to the USA. In Italy there are special stamps for Priority Mail
just as in the old days in the USA there were special stamps for Air Mail.
When air mail was, for example, 6 cents in the USA, if you did not have
an air mail stamp, you could put two regular 3 cents stamps on the letter
and write Air Mail across the front.

In Italy for Priority Mail, you use not only the special stamp but also
a sticker that says Priority Mail. The old rate for regular mail within
Italy was 41 cents. There are plenty of the old 41 cent stamps still
available.
So one can buy two 41 cent stamps, put them on a letter to the USA, and
also affix a Priority Mail sticker. You are thus paying only an extra 2
cents for the priority letter. The only problem is that you are not quite
sure the letter will go by Priority Mail because, even though it has a
Priority
Mail sticker and sufficient postage, it does not have the special Priority
Mail stamp. Such things matter in Italy.

Concerning another postal matter, a package to me from the USA never
arrived.
Fortunately it was insured by the sender. So I thought at least I can
get my money back for the value of the contents. The sender made a claim
at the US Postal Service. Unfortunately the next step in the process is
for the US Postal Service to contact the Italian Postal Service to obtain
verification that the package never was delivered in Italy. I am not
highly
confident that the US Postal Service will ever get an answer in this case,
but one can hope.

At a Restaurant

At a nice restaurant in Pistoia recently, I was seated next to a family
of husband, wife, and 13 year-old son. I noticed that for one of his
courses,
the son ordered a cheese plate which is an assortment of local cheeses with
a little honey. As I watched him carefully eat this item, I wondered how
many American teenagers would ever order something like a cheese plate
instead
of a cheeseburger. The love and the understanding of fine food are
inculcated
early in Italy.

A Trip to Florence

On the train recently I met a lady who was coming from Florence to Lucca
(a 90 minute train ride). She was a cashier in a supermarket chain at
a store in Lucca. She had just gone to Florence to sign her employment
contract
at the company headquarters there. I don’t know if this was her first
employment contract with the company or a renewal contract. One signs such
renewal
contracts in Italy. In any case, I can’t imagine that a cashier for, let’s
say, Giant Foods in Gettysburg would have to travel to Reading, Pennsylvania
simply to sign an employment contract. (The lady was now late for work
because the train was running behind.) Just a small example of Italian
inefficiency.

Comments from a Friend

An American friend who has lived in Italy sent me a couple of humorous
stories. One involves the Italian penchant for hating to make change at
the store. You will almost always be asked if you have some coins so the
cashier can make even change. Once my friend bought an item for 19 Euros
and gave
the clerk a 20 Euro bill. The clerk said “if you have a 1 Euro coin, then
I can give you a 2 Euro coin for change.” Maybe the clerk was short on
1 Euro coins, or maybe the habit of always asking for a coin to make the
change was too ingrained.

The other story involves the conversion from the Lira to the Euro. After
a certain date, the Lira was no longer valid currency. (I’m not sure if
this was the same date after which you also could no longer convert Lira
to Euros at the bank). Anyway as this date arrived, he saw a beggar with
the usual sign telling of his woe (“I’m Hungry” or “Have No Work”) to which
was appended “Please, no Lira.”

At the Theatre

The local theatre is sponsoring a project in which it is soliciting from
local residents anonymous short accounts of family situations that might
form the basis of a theatrical sketch. In Spring there will be a series of
evenings
dedicated to such sketches with titles such as “Husband and Wife” and
“Parents
and Children.” What is most interesting is the description of what might be
accomplished by this project in addition to some insightful sketches. Here
is
the description

“It is necessary to use the the theatre as a place to hear with
understanding
about the disillusionment and tensions personal and familial, reinterpreted,
transfigured by the interpretations of the actors, their real secret words
permitting
us in fact to obtain a form of mediation in respect to the solitude and the
silence of our real problems, perhaps the theatre is able to function as a
collective therapy of hearing.”

This little excerpt illustrates the Italian faith in the arts (all the arts)
as POWERFUL
in ways that one does not speak of in the USA.

Parmalat Bankruptcy

This large scale failure has been reported even in the USA. It is hard
to understand exactly all the shenanigans that took place. The company
actually made up forged documents to obtain loans. As I mentioned once
before there is in Italy an American commentator on economics, Alan
Freedman.
Recently he was interviewed about the details of the Parmalat collapse.
I am always pleased when this takes place because I can understand
everything
he says. He speaks American/Italian. Part of the scheme involved phony
companies in the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands are home to many such
phony companies for money laundering purposes. Whereas we may be used to
hearing such islands described as a “tropical paradise, “the Italian term
for them is a “fiscal paradise.”

———————————————————
———————————————————

In case you are interested in a cultural (not economic) explanation of
the Parmalat affair, here is one by Tim Parks, and Englishman who lives in
Italy
and writes books about his life here.

Now That’s Italian!

By TIM PARKS

VERONA, Italy — “It is hard for the rich to live in Florence,” wrote banker
and poet Lorenzo de’ Medici in 1473, “if they do not control the state.” The
businessman’s enemies, he suggests, were always ready to use state power to
tax and regulate him into ruin. In the 23 years he ran the Medici bank,
Lorenzo employed every possible means to consolidate his family’s hold on
government, turning what was officially a democratic city state into a
virtual dictatorship.

When Lorenzo wrote those words, however, the family bank was already in
decline and would certainly have collapsed had he not been able to refinance
it from time to time directly from communal coffers. Many commentators have
suggested that Silvio Berlusconi’s entry into the political arena was driven
by the need to save a threatened empire. Certainly it is only political
power that enabled him to keep the judiciary more or less at bay. And
there’s little doubt, as one tax inspector involved in the case told me,
that a great deal of political connivance has been required to keep the
insolvent Parmalat afloat for the past 10 years.

The search for more or less accurate analogies that has followed the
collapse of Calisto Tanzi’s empire is natural. Yet what is striking about
the Parmalat affair, when compared with other recent failures in the U.S.
and the Netherlands, is the comparative crassness of the fraud and the very
long period of time it had been going on. Inevitably this combination begins
to make the failure of the regulating authorities to intervene look like
complicity. Certainly, if the so-called fiamme gialle (the tax police) had
redirected just a few of their hundreds of raids on Mr. Berlusconi’s
Fininvest toward Parmalat, the scandal would have broken long ago. Rather
than drawing analogies with Enron and Ahold, it might be better to look for
an explanation in what makes the scandal uniquely Italian.

* * *
You need only meet a dozen people from any nation to dismiss the idea of a
single national character. But that doesn’t exclude the possibility of a
national dynamic, a dramatis personae of type figures who, in the way they
react together, feed and consolidate each other’s image of himself and the
world, like the lord and his butler in an English farce. In Italy, the great
barone, the rich and powerful distributor of patronage who becomes closely
identified with the pride and fortunes of a particular city, is one of those
figures.

No doubt the country’s city-state past is important here. Gianni Agnelli was
very much Il Signore of Turin, as Mr. Tanzi has for many years been of
Parma. The Italian public mind seeks and eagerly accepts these unofficial
coronations. The interminable hagiographies that followed Gianni Agnelli’s
death, the complete absence of any objective assessment of his real ability
in business, as opposed to his company’s capacity to attract government
subsidies, suggest how powerfully such figures work on the Italian
imagination. But when the patronage and authority of these signori is based
not on hereditary sovereignty or democratic election, but on the fortunes of
a regular commercial enterprise competing in the marketplace, then all kinds
of contradictions and perverse social mechanisms ensue.

There are not many parallels one would wish to draw between Lorenzo de’
Medici and Silvio Berlusconi. Yet they have in common the predicament of the
man whose business affairs have brought him to a position of social
pre-eminence not easily imaginable outside Italy, and from which, fatally,
there is no easy way back. When the Italian barone’s power base is
threatened, it is unlikely he will behave like his English or American
business counterpart. Failure is unthinkable. Hardly seen as an ordinary
mortal, he will for years be assisted by the self-serving, but ultimately
self-destructive, complicity of all around him. There will be a feeling that
the pride of a whole community, a city, depends on his survival.

One of the major causes of the decline of the Medici bank was the family’s
growing penchant for extravagance. At a certain point the maintenance and
visibility of the status they had achieved became more important than
careful accounting. This behavior pattern was imitated by those who were
supposed to be running the bank’s various branches, in Bruges and London,
Milan and Rome. They insisted that the bank’s premises be sufficiently
spectacular to inculcate general respect. They were more interested in doing
business with kings and princes than with mere merchants. But when a king
doesn’t repay a loan there is not much you can do to put the screws on.

One of the ways in which the contemporary Italian barone can demonstrate
both his capacity for extravagance (and hence patronage), while at the same
time sealing his identification with his hometown, is through his possession
of a soccer team in Italy’s top league. Since Calisto Tanzi bought Parma
F.C., it has been the most dramatically successful of the small-town teams
in the big league and the cause of immense pride in the town. And, of
course, since the value of a star player is largely notional, soccer clubs
offer endless possibilities for inventive accounting. Mr. Tanzi frequently
exchanged players with the big Rome club, Lazio, owned by the Cragnotti
family, whose food processing empire, Cirio, recently collapsed amid
accusations of corruption. Aside from their footballing connections,
Parmalat and Cirio shared the same bankers and auditors. Vittorio Cecchi
Gori, owner of a considerable film and TV empire, for many years used the
soccer club Fiorentina to identify himself with the city of Florence, until
he too went into an ignominious bankruptcy in 2001.

In 1998, the sports director at Parma F.C., Gianbattista Pastorello, left
the club and bought Hellas Verona, another Serie A team, reputably with the
help of a loan from Mr. Tanzi. Parma and Verona proceeded to swap a number
of players. In May 2001 the Verona team went to Parma absolutely desperate
for a win to save them from relegation into the less profitable Serie B. Out
of 16 away games that season Verona had lost 14 and drawn two. Since I have
been a season ticket holder at Verona for many years, I was on the bus with
the fans going to the crucial game. They were amazingly confident. “2-1 to
us,” they said. “It’s been fixed.” Mr. Tanzi would never, they thought,
allow his team to play against his own money. And 2-1 it was, Verona scoring
in the dying minutes while Parma’s excellent defense stood by.

Italy will continue to produce figures like Messrs. Tanzi, Cecchi Gori and
Cragnotti, Agnelli, Benetton and Berlusconi. The collective psyche is hungry
for them. And when this level of identification between family, company and
town is achieved, then megalomania and a collective illusion of
invulnerability is hard to resist. Investors should take care. It is not
that such a figure is necessarily corrupt or in deep water, not at all; but
if he is, the investor will not know about it until far too late. Any
changes in the already stringent regulations will be irrelevant in the face
of this powerful psychosocial dynamic.

Mr. Parks, a novelist, is the author of “Italian Neighbors” (Grove Press,
2003).

Death of a Philosopher

A prominent Italian philosopher named Bobbio died last week. His death
got considerable coverage in the news. He was not a cloistered academician.
As is more typical of intellectuals in Italy, he was also a commentator
on public life. I once read an article that lamented the decline in the
USA of the “Public Philosopher” such as Walter Lippman was in the 1940s and
1950s. Whether “public philosophers” are generally a good or bad thing may
be a matter of opinion, but it is clear that this type of person (not just
people in philosophy, but in other intellectual areas too) is more common
and more respected in Italy.

The genus “mendicanti”

Recently a black immigrant beggar came up to me on the street and with a
sad face told me how poor he was. I gave him nothing. Thirty seconds later
on another street he passed me whistling and singing a happy song. Perhaps
he had gotten a contribution, or perhaps (more likely) he is really a happy
fellow except when putting on his beggar’s face

After considerable study, I will now try to classify (at least partially)
the various subcategories of beggars in Italy (which may be men or women) :

1. Stationary beggar with sign — stands or kneels in still position and
has cardboard sign telling his tale of woe, or simply saying “I’m hungry.”

2. Stationary beggar (same as number 1 above), without sign (often on knees
which appears to be uncomfortable so that he is seeking money on basis of
the “pain” of staying stationary.

3. Peripatetic beggar with sign (number one above but in motion)

4. Peripatetic beggar without sign (usually makes an oral pitch about his
tale of woe as he approaches you)

5. Gypsies

6. People with obvious deformities

7. Old women, dressed in black, who kneel with their face close to the
pavement
(so you can’t see it) with a cup held above their head. They usually shake
constantly.

8. Drunks or mentally unsound people

9. Train beggars — often with the sign about being one of the 5 brothers
who have no place to live and nothing to eat.

10. ( Quasi Beggar) Deaf Mutes who come into restaurant and leave a little
toy and a card on your table. The card tells you that they are a deaf mute
and sell these items so they have the dignity of earning a living. The
items are overpriced. Then they come back and pick up either the item or
the payment. On New Year’s Eve I was the only one in my section of
restaurant
who did not give money.

11 (Quasi beggar) Blacks on street all selling the same crap which few
people want or need.

One Last Time –Stoves

I’ve never purchased a stove in my life. I am so out of it that I do not
know
that today in USA, as in Italy, all gas stoves have spark igniters, not
pilot lights. A reader who told me this said that pilot lights were
eliminated
because they might ignite flammable vapors from items such as spray cans
used in kitchen. If true, how typical. A change in practice in USA is
premised
upon safety (i.e. fear of law suits), not upon conserving resources.

Child on Cell Phone

I recently saw a 4 year old yakking on a cell phone without a parent close
by. As I looked closer, I realized it was a toy cell phone –quite
realistic.
The toy that teaches you how to be a true adult in Italy.

Used Furniture

I went to buy a small used furniture item in Pistoia at a market of only
used goods. I was amazed at prices. A used item that costs $10 -$20 in
USA costs 50 Euros here. Furniture in general is of better quality and
higher price here, but some of this stuff seemed to me to be of questionable
quality and still very expensive.

American Movie Stars in Italy

When a movie star visits Italy, as Tom Cruise did recently to promote his
latest film, it merits a segment on the national news. In Rome this week
I passed a small street where there was a police car parked, several
security
folks, and a small crowd. I stopped to see what was happening. Then I
noticed
a number of photographers. Soon it was clear that someone famous was coming
down the street. My companion identified him as Kevin Costner. He was
exiting
a restaurant with a blond who appeared to be a “wee bit ” younger than he.
People wanted to touch him, kiss him, etc. We had just come from the
Sistine
Chapel, and seeing this crowd made me wonder how someone like Kevin Costner
could visit such a place without having his visit ruined by the hubbub
it would cause. Perhaps even the Vatican Museum would arrange a private
showing for him. But at this point, I certainly did not envy the life of
Kevin Costner. On the other hand if that blond who was with him really digs
older guys and ever wants an American guide for her next trip to Italy, I
might give her my phone
number.

Getting my Membership Card at the Coop

I shop at a Supermarket chain called the Coop. I recently went to get my
membership card that entitled me to refund of 10% of purchases. I thought
of this as like a discount card at an American supermarket, but it isn’t.
As its name indicates the Coop is a cooperative. I was becoming a member
of the cooperative. The card was not free (a surprise), it cost me 25 Euros.
It took me 30 minutes to get the card because the clerk could not figure (1)
out whether to enter data from my passport or from my Permesso di Soggiorno
in the computer and (2) what was the proper way to enter “citizen of the
United States” into the computer. The first time I went to use the card, it
did not work at the cash register, but it turned out to be a problem with
the register, not the card.

Euro vs. the Dollar

The news continues to be bad. Soon the dollar will be like Monopoly Money
here. I’ve read a number of articles about this. Nobody seems to have a full
explanation. It appears that so far imports to USA from Europe have not
increased greatly in price because European
exporters so far have been cutting profits rather than raising prices. For
this reason US imports form Europe have not declined as would be expected
so our trade deficit with Europe is not yet greatly shrinking. The very
big segments of imports from low wage countries is not effected because
their currencies are not appreciating against. the dollar. The declining
dollar has not yet heated up inflation in USA.

Some say the Euro is appreciating because European governments are showing
high fiscal discipline. Others say the dollar is depreciating because the
USA, with high deficits, is showing little fiscal discipline. If the issue
is the relative degree of fiscal discipline between Europe and the USA,
then probably both of these statements have some truth.

What is also unfortunately true is that the group most hurt by the declining
dollar, Americans living in Europe, is not a group of much political
importance. So as long as the declining dollar does not have detrimental
domestic
consequences in the USA (which may, of course, happen), I don’t see much
relief for folks
like me. Maybe I could become category number 12 in the list of types of
beggars above.

Minors and Cigarettes

It is against the law to sell cigarettes to persons under 16, but outdoor
cigarette machines are common. A new law requires that these machines be
turned off from 9 at night until 7 in the morning. So now minors who want
to buy from these machines (and nobody will stop them from doing so) have
to do so between 7 in the morning and 9 at night. The efficiency of this
new law to stop minors from smoking escapes me — it must be part of that
Italian logic that I have yet to master.

Further Adventures at the Post Office

The price of a letter or post card (which have the same cost here) to the
USA increased on January 1 from 77 cents to 80 cents. But the post office
has no 80 cent stamps. One might think to buy a 3 cent stamp to add to
the old 77 cent stamp, but the smallest denomination of stamp in Italy is
41 cents. You can mail items at Post office where the machine prints a
metered stamp. So one might buy a metered stamp of 3 cents. The metered
strip, however, is so large that you can’t fit it on a post card along
with the 77 cent stamp. For a letter or package this is possible.

Getting a package or registered letter at the Post Office is also an
interesting
event. You get a card in your mail box that there is a package or
registered
letter for you. You give the card to the clerk. Behind the clerk there
is a massive set of various mail slots. He or she starts looking, first
in this slot, then in that one. Sometimes the clerk is unsuccessful and
then goes to the back room to find the item. If there is a coherent system
of organizing the packages and letters to be picked up, this too escapes
me.

The Italian Stove (contd.)

I wrote last week about the spark igniter on the stove to light the burner.
When I told an Italian friend that in the USA the stoves have a pilot light,
he found this almost incomprehensible. It seemed like keeping a candle
lit 24 hours a day for the few times you might want light. In Italy, and
I think in Europe in general, there is a much greater awareness about
wasting
resources. Natural resources are less abundant and more expensive here.

Monday (Friday) Holidays in USA and Italy

In the USA many holidays are on Monday to facilitate taking a long weekend.
In Italy, however, holidays are on specific dates (like 4th of July in the
USA) and
have not been moved to a Monday. Italians too, however, like to stretch
a holiday into a long weekend. So on the TV there was a review of Holidays
for 2004 — on what day of the week did they fall. Thus people could see
how they might stretch the holiday over the weekend. My guess is that in
Italy a holiday that falls on a Tuesday or Thursday might also be fair game
for some creative planning of a 4 day holiday weekend.

The Government “ought to do something.”

I wrote recently about the ironical Italian habit of calling upon the
government, in which people have almost no faith, to solve problems for
which a governmental
solution seems inappropriate. An example of this appeared in a newspaper
article this week. The owner of a prominent local bar/cafe said that he
will have to close soon because the business is not making money.
Apparently
this cafe over the years has been a meeting place for artists and
intellectuals.
So now the owner elevated it to an important historical resource of the
city. He said he had warned both local and provincial officials that he
would have to close. He pointed out that in other cities governmental
action
had been taken to save similar businesses. There was even talk of
approaching
the national parliament about this case. The owner stressed that it was
the 11th hour, but there was still time to rescue the bar/cafe.

Nowhere in the article was there any mention of specific action requested
to save the bar/cafe. I cannot envision what such action would be. Tax
relief is not possible because taxes are not assessed at the local level.
There is no need to renovate the building so there was no request for loan
assistance. Does he want the city to buy the bar and run it? Perhaps an
ordinance requiring local citizens to eat or drink there? Maybe the city
is supposed to give him money to keep the business open. Someone did tell
me that the owner complained that business dropped after the downtown was
closed to auto traffic, but the downtown is crowded with foot traffic, and
you can still park within a few blocks of this business. I can’t imagine
changing a major traffic policy for just one business.

In the convoluted Italian system there may be a way to subsidize this
business; I just can’t figure out what the way is because I am thinking in
American terms about the problem.

January Sales

In one way they differ in Italy compared to the USA. There are actually
“rules” for the sales that are negotiated between retailers and consumer
organizations. The dates that the sales begin are specified and vary from
city to city. In Florence they started on January 7, but in Bologna you
must wait until January 17 to start your bargain hunting. Just another
example of how things are much more regulated here.

Homesick?

The perfect cure for homesickness in Italy, watching on TV an extended
advertisement for the two-CD set of Greatest s of Elvis. You know “not
available in
stores, send now for this extraordinary set of the music of the King…”
The script is the same; only the language and the price (higher here) are
different.

Democracy in Italy

On a recent visit to Rome, I noted an item I think I have seen elsewhere
in Italy. It announced an election in which foreign citizens of Rome elect
their representative to the Rome City Council. In Italy there is the idea
that non citizens (who still pay taxes) should be represented at least at
the local governmental level. This is more democratic than in the USA.

Theft Number 2

I wrote about the package that arrived in Italy for me minus its contents.
My second theft experience was in Siena. I left my umbrella in a rack for
umbrellas at the civic museum in Siena. It was gone upon my return. Perhaps
someone mistook my umbrella for his; there was one umbrella similar in the
rack although not in a location close to where I left mine. Fortunately
I’ve taken to buying the 5 Euro umbrellas that are available on the street
– if I lose one, no great loss. Umbrella theft is not a big problem in
Italy because at every store there is a large vase outside the store in
which people leave their umbrellas upon entering. This system
would not work if theft was common.