Mar 212012
 

Travel raises questions!

When in Italy, blend in

Is it time for lunch yet?

A Cantankerous Old Coot is inclined to be set in his ways. It’s not exactly a job requirement. It just seems to work out that way. Maybe it’s the number of miles on the odometer that makes you finally decide that what you are used to is what needs to happen. Maybe the mind gets rigid and fixated over time. Maybe it’s a personality disorder. I can’t explain. All I can say is that somewhere along the line I decided that some things are right and others are not and that I’m not the one that needs to change.

I never gave it much thought but lately I pretty much knew the way things ought to go, what ought to happen and how I like things to be. I have been around the block. All the years invested in life have left me feeling pretty comfortable that I have life all figured out. No need now to make any changes or consider alternatives. But then I had to complicate things and travel to a foreign country.

Those foreign countries are different.

Let’s face it. Foreign countries are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you will find. To start off, foreign countries are full of foreigners and foreigners have odd behaviors, odd systems and as the icing on the cake, most of them speak a foreign language even though they may call it English. I’ve just returned from Italy where they do speak a foreign language and I have to say that if a country has to speak a foreign language, Italian seems like a pretty good choice. It is lyrical to listen to, has lots of cognates and many Italians know enough English to get you by with basic needs. Besides, Italians seem to like people and want to help. Language was an obstacle but not a problem. Nothing odd at all about foreigners speaking a foreign language. I can live with people speaking Italian.

It’s their priorities! 

What shook this Coot up was some other odd things Italians do. They don’t think that commercial activity is all important. They shut down at noon and don’t open up until after 3:00. They throw away three hours of good selling time. What a waste. In America, we pretty much expect a store to be open all the time, even 24 hours. Nothing odd about that. After all the customer is always right and so whenever the customer wants to buy something, the store should be open to sell it. It makes perfect sense. Italians, however,  see it differently.

Don’t mess lunch! 

They like their lunch hour- or three. The stores open at a reasonable time- say 9:00 in the morning and then stay open until noon when they close for lunch. Lunch can be until 3:00 or 3:30 and then they open again until 6:00 when it’s time to get ready for dinner. They don’t actually eat until 8:00 but they have to get ready. There is a definite sense of priorities here and it is not selling that last damn widget.

It looks odd at first.

They all look so good.

Dinner isn't until 8:00

To a tourist fresh off the plane, this whole commercial schedule seems lunatic. We can’t imagine setting up a business for the convenience of the store owner and not the customer. We can’t figure out what to do in that empty time slot when the store is closed. It is maddening to throw away good hours in the middle of the day when money could change hands, profits could be made and people could be working. To an American, the waste of time and resources is appalling. No wonder Italy is not a world power. It’s very odd, at least until you stay in Italy for a while..

Somewhere about the fifth day in Italy, a seismic shift happens. The world starts to look different. You begin to tell yourself, “What’s the hurry?” All the rushing around seeing things, the frantic urgency of checking items off the list begins to raise questions. What is the point of pushing yourself to fatigue and dealing daily with sore muscles and aching bones when you can kick back and enjoy life. After all, this is a vacation and not a work assignment. There is nobody to please except yourself.

Oddly, it stopped seeming odd. 

I soon discovered that there was nothing I needed to buy during those three hours. If I don’t manage to buy it later, I’ll figure out something else to use. I can make do or just do without. No need to rush my digestion or move away from the sunny campo. I might even take a nap. By this time, it was hard to remember what was so important anyway or where I put my list. Italians may not get much done but they sure have a good time not doing it.

So back in the states trying to make sense of my time in Italy and put my life back in order, I’m struggling to regain my old priorities. I still know that a country like Italy is odd with its emphasis  on personal time and the joys of a leisurely lunch and I’m not about to change my opinion. After 70 years, that old American drive is there to stay. I do admit to wavering some about which lifestyle is better. Somehow, it seems to me that an unbiased appraisal might suggest that the American way is not the best after all but I’m not going there. It’s nearly noon and I can think about it over a glass of wine or two after I eat lunch.

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Ralph

Ralph is the inspiration for Cantankerous Old Coots and is our Grand Duke of Cantankerousness

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Mar 042012
 

Hello folks.  You may have noticed that this post is not by the venerable Ralph.  He of course is in Italy either having a vacation or on some sort of work release program, based on the pictures he sent me.  Check them out for yourself and see what you think.

 Note the handcarts that Ralph must be using to shuttle things around Italy.

  This is the dock where Ralph takes pictures for people and offers his luggage shuttle service.

  And I believe this is a view from his cell hotel, where he can hear those confounded gondoliers crooning day and night.  And is it just me or is that an outboard motor on that boat?  I thought you had to use a pole and a goofy hat to get around Venice.

Of course Ralph just sent me the pictures with no explanations, so I am guessing on all of these.  Maybe I should make this a caption contest.  Anyway, Onto the NEWS!

United States of America

Image via Wikipedia

You know, there is a reason that I don’t watch the news.  It is damn depressing.  I didn’t search very far to find a plethora of despair and foolishness abounding in these United States of America.  If you notice, all of this crap is based from one site here in Salt Lake.  I shudder at what the future holds for us.

 

Police use Twitter to announce sex offender arrival

All I can say to this is I guess it will be a while longer before I let my kids use Twitter.  It is bad enough that sex-offenders have to announce it to their neighbors, but now,  the government will do it for you!

5 ways to get control of your teens’ cellphone usage

First things first, you want to control how much your teen uses their phone, dont give them a phone in the first place!  I am currently in the adamantly opposed camp of kids having cell phones.  There are several people around me that say things like “How do you know where your kids are” and “how can you keep them safe?”  Like me knowing where my kids are and being able to call them is not only a bit Big Brother but is it really going to keep them safe?  There will be a night that is snowing and icy and I am calling my teenager and they are trying to answer the phone and then the car spins out of control on the freeway and hits an embankment.  I guess I can give EMS the number so they can track down the car and my child’s lifeless body inside.  Whatever happened to trusting your kids?  I remember my mom saying “Stay in the neighborhood and come back for dinner”  that was all it took.  I stayed fairly close and I was ok.  When I got older I was fine telling my parents where I was going and they trusted me.  For the most part.  I think a lot of that trust was because they knew who I was.  They had spent time with me enough that they knew I wasn’t going to the den of sin every time I said I was at work.  maybe that is where this “Give the kid a cell phone” thing comes in, many parents don’t trust their kids because they barely know who they are.   I have spent most of the last 11 years at home raising my kids so I think I have a pretty good handle on who they are becoming.  And no matter how much they beg, they will not be getting cell phones any time soon.  They will just have to use their imaginations and come up with games that are not generated on a screen.  They will just have to deal with the fact that I can guess where they are going.  And don’t get me started on texting….

Thieves steal donations from local charity

All I want to say to this is firing squad.  How bad off are you to steal from a charity, and one that helps those with mental illness?  This sounds like kids doing the thievery but that is no excuse.  I am all in favor of public executions in the town square, broadcast live on TV, with a fine imposed or even a bench warrant issued if you don’t check in and watch.

Storms demolish small towns in Ind., Ky.; 34 dead

Mother Nature in yet another chilling reminder that we will never beat her.  God bless those who are affected….

Q&A: Google to dig deeper into users’ lives

Hi, have you met Big Brother er the Gestapo er the Communist party er Google??????  What sounds like a good idea to some sounds like just another way for the government to bend us over the barrel and scrutinize every little thing we do.  If this keeps up, it won’t be long before the First Amendment is a quaint footnote to history.

Disney forced to shut down anti-obesity exhibit amid criticisms

This one bothered the hell out of me.  First, Disney has put up a display to help kids lead healthier lives.  Not a bad idea.  Seems many places are doing it, the NFL has the Play 60 campaign and there are other get outside and play movements going on.  Even on my Wii once in a while it says to take a break and go outside.  Here Disney is trying to do this.  and there is a National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance in this country???  WTF???  Really?  First off I am myself overweight but I am working hard to get rid of that weight.  I really want to be able to play with my grandkids in the future so being dead is not in the plan.  But, I know that I did it to myself.  I ate too much fast food and didn’t move around enough over the last few years.  Hell I spent basically 3 years sitting on my fat ass in the hospital or in the dialysis clinic with my daughter stuffing my pie hole with shit.  Not literally, of course, but here I am now.  This is another sad statement of society where there can exist a National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, so people can just feel better about themselves and try to get the government to pay for their electric scooters.  Get out and walk around Disney World a few times and quit accepting fat as a handicap.

Father sues school district over son’s injuries

This story is high on my list of crap.  When I was a kid we would take sleds to school and ride the hills down to the mud and then slide some more.  If we got hurt, too bad Charlie, you weren’t careful enough.  This kid hit a rock and broke his jaw?  Why go down head first?  This would have happened if there was an adult there or not, the kid was being dumb.  Back in the day, kids were dumb.  You learned to be smart by flipping over the handlebars or skinning your knees with the roller skates or falling off of a sled.  Who should be responsible for this?  Couldn’t possibly be the kid, or even his parents who haven’t taught him how to slide down a hill with little snow on it.  It must be the school.  And the district.  I call Bullshit and hope that the judge not only throws the case out, but charges the father all of the court costs.  And if he doesn’t pay, teach him how to slide face first into that prison mattress…I’m just saying.

 

Well folks, I hope that you have been somewhat enlightened today and still find the CNS your source for news.  Ralph may be back next week if he does enough community service in Venice, or spends enough money so that they let him leave.  If not, I will be back next week.  And there may be video…

So, for today, Goodnight from the CNS…

-Justin

 

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Justin

Justin is the young Coot with a Cantankerous Soul who continues to be educated by older, more cootish Ralph and Bob. His Cantankerosity is his own.

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Mar 062011
 
Buttercream cupcakes made in Cheshire by Katja...

Image via Wikipedia

The Oscars are over.

Well we all survived the oscar show last week. Thankfully, we were spared the bad words. To bad we couldn’t use the same techniques to shut up the effusive thank yous. Now we can forget all the forgettable movies and move on with our lives. Still, there is a lot of bad news this week. The world is full of strife and conflict. It is all this Coot can do to find good news.

Starting right here at home, in the nation’s capitol, there is a war breaking out as invaders from the West Coast set up an outpost in Georgetown,

The new cupcake in town

It’s no wonder our hardworking lawmakers have such difficulty leading our country with this kind of conflict going on under their very noses

Then there is the revolt against the new airport security searches starting up in Texas.

Simpson files anti-body-scanner bill

It is so hard to move forward with s much distraction and dispute.

But the US isn’t the only country facing conflict. Even Italy, a country well known for its ability to make the trains run on time is finding that those well managed trains are damaging it’s national heritage. Who knew that David had weak ankles?

Michelangelo’s David could collapse due to high speed train building

When you have a problem, it is hard to know just where to start but give Italy credit for trying. They think that there are too many people in Italy that don’t speak Italian. I know it is a strange idea but this is Italy.  So now if you want to immigrate to Italy, Italy wants to know that you speak acceptbale Italian first. This may not fix David’s ankles but as they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Italy makes immigrants speak Italian for work visa

There is more disaster news this week, however. Scientists tell us that we have started a mass extinction that may be greater than any of the five that happened earlier. You remember the earlier extinctions, don’t you? One of them was the dinosaurs but the others must have happened while I was napping. I just don’t remember them. Anyway, this one is all man’s fault. Just like global warming. And it’s going to be a doozy.

World’s sixth mass extinction may be underway: study says

Not to worry, however, other sicentists have some good news for us. It seems they have found evidence that life existst elsewhere in the universe. Since there is a backup plan, no need to get your panties in a bunch about a few extinctions. Anyway, there are plenty of creatures I can do without. A little culling now and then is good for everybody.

Exclusive: NASA Scientist Claims Evidence of Alien Life on Meteorite

And finally to find some good news, we have to go to sports this week. You will all be happy to learn that at long last they are going to stop those Polo Matches in the Hamptons.  Mercedes Benz has decided that it will stop sponsoring this sport of effete snobs in its new effort to court the common man who buys more cars.

Hamptons polo faces end

And finally love and Nascar to put you in an upbeat mood for the coming week. A Utah couple celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary at the Las Vegas track. That’s love for you.

THEY ♥ NASCAR

That’s all until next week.

 

 

Ralph

Ralph is the inspiration for Cantankerous Old Coots and is our Grand Duke of Cantankerousness

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