Okay, it's time for a little story.
On Saturday, the first of a now-series of rainy days here in Assisi, my friend Gail and her cousin Pam, arrived safely from Boston for their first trip to Italy. They now occupy the third floor of what is affectionately referred to as "The Guardino Condo"here on Porta Perlici, by our landlord, Pietro.
Pietro owns a beautiful art shop in town and he is a busy man due to his business and social activities.
So, on the day of the arrival of the new visitors, he asked that I do him the favor of showing them to their apartment and helping with their orientation. In addition to insuring that every bathroom in a rental space has a pull cord just in case of emergency when on the toilet....it is required that the landlord gets passport information from each of his tenants. So, he asked that I snap photos of each and send them to him at my convenience. He also told me that if anything was needed, Valentina, the
young woman who cleans and tends to domestic needs in the apartments, was on-site for any need that might come up......not that she speaks one word of English, mind you. And, she only knows me, not ever having met Barbara.
Of course, the newbies wanted to stretch their legs and I wanted to give them a quick walking tour of the neighborhood before handing them their map and telling them to go and fulfill their individual visions of Italy. Out the three of us went, with Barbara remaining behind in our apartment.
We were almost home when my phone rang, a call from Barbara, and we're off and running.....
Lynn, there's a woman trying to break in the apartment!!!!
She's saying DOCUMENTI, DOCUMENTI!!!
She won't go away.
Thank God you answered your phone!!!!
"Okay, Barbara, let me think a second......is she wearing a white tee shirt? Short brown hair?
Yes, and she's pointing to her cell phone, documenti!!
"That's Valentina, Barbara. She doesn't speak English but she's looking for the passports (and for a familiar face) to photograph and send to her boss, Pietro. Try to tell her I'll be back soon and I will take care of it"
I can't tell her anything. She tried to barge in and I shoved her out the door, onto the street!!!!!!!
"Oh, boy....she probably thinks you broke in and did away with me!" Mamma Mia!
Well, you can just imagine how Barbara felt when she realized what she had done to Valentina.
Of course, one can only sympathize with Barbara. She thought she was going to be assaulted and robbed, then she thought that Valentina might be an undercover cop, looking for our "documents"! She was scared!!!
Then, of course, a new fear set in......did Valentina report her to the carabinieri and would she be taken to jail? Every vehicle that passed our apartment became a potential paddy wagon. The flashing lights of the trash collection trucks turned our girl a shade of white one rarely sees.
Barbara is an incredibly sensitive and kind human being. However, I'm not sure that Valentina would have agreed at that moment and of course, we felt terribly bad for the young woman who was simply doing (over-doing) her job. We both felt the need to communicate our apologies to Pietro, hoping he would forgive us and extend our explanation and apologies to dear Valentina.
The good news quickly came back in the form of a text from "the boss" and our minds were set at ease. No, charges were not going to be pressed. All is well. Tutto bene! No problem. Situation under control. No interventions needed. No Worker's Comp or Employee Relations claims filed.
The response from Pietro came in the following message
"SHE'S TOUGH"
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| "The" Door on Via Porta Perlici - AKA "War Zone" |
On Saturday, the first of a now-series of rainy days here in Assisi, my friend Gail and her cousin Pam, arrived safely from Boston for their first trip to Italy. They now occupy the third floor of what is affectionately referred to as "The Guardino Condo"here on Porta Perlici, by our landlord, Pietro.
Pietro owns a beautiful art shop in town and he is a busy man due to his business and social activities.
So, on the day of the arrival of the new visitors, he asked that I do him the favor of showing them to their apartment and helping with their orientation. In addition to insuring that every bathroom in a rental space has a pull cord just in case of emergency when on the toilet....it is required that the landlord gets passport information from each of his tenants. So, he asked that I snap photos of each and send them to him at my convenience. He also told me that if anything was needed, Valentina, the
young woman who cleans and tends to domestic needs in the apartments, was on-site for any need that might come up......not that she speaks one word of English, mind you. And, she only knows me, not ever having met Barbara.
Of course, the newbies wanted to stretch their legs and I wanted to give them a quick walking tour of the neighborhood before handing them their map and telling them to go and fulfill their individual visions of Italy. Out the three of us went, with Barbara remaining behind in our apartment.
We were almost home when my phone rang, a call from Barbara, and we're off and running.....
Lynn, there's a woman trying to break in the apartment!!!!
She's saying DOCUMENTI, DOCUMENTI!!!
She won't go away.
Thank God you answered your phone!!!!
"Okay, Barbara, let me think a second......is she wearing a white tee shirt? Short brown hair?
Yes, and she's pointing to her cell phone, documenti!!
"That's Valentina, Barbara. She doesn't speak English but she's looking for the passports (and for a familiar face) to photograph and send to her boss, Pietro. Try to tell her I'll be back soon and I will take care of it"
I can't tell her anything. She tried to barge in and I shoved her out the door, onto the street!!!!!!!
"Oh, boy....she probably thinks you broke in and did away with me!" Mamma Mia!
Well, you can just imagine how Barbara felt when she realized what she had done to Valentina.
Of course, one can only sympathize with Barbara. She thought she was going to be assaulted and robbed, then she thought that Valentina might be an undercover cop, looking for our "documents"! She was scared!!!
Then, of course, a new fear set in......did Valentina report her to the carabinieri and would she be taken to jail? Every vehicle that passed our apartment became a potential paddy wagon. The flashing lights of the trash collection trucks turned our girl a shade of white one rarely sees.
Barbara is an incredibly sensitive and kind human being. However, I'm not sure that Valentina would have agreed at that moment and of course, we felt terribly bad for the young woman who was simply doing (over-doing) her job. We both felt the need to communicate our apologies to Pietro, hoping he would forgive us and extend our explanation and apologies to dear Valentina.
The good news quickly came back in the form of a text from "the boss" and our minds were set at ease. No, charges were not going to be pressed. All is well. Tutto bene! No problem. Situation under control. No interventions needed. No Worker's Comp or Employee Relations claims filed.
The response from Pietro came in the following message
"SHE'S TOUGH"
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