Losing Your Pants At The Amusement Park

   

Italian Newspaper Article Today

     I miss the newspaper.  I miss a cup of coffee and a bit of worldly catch-up.  There is no home delivery of newspapers in Italy.  They think this custom is a bit strange.  I could go to my local newspaper/magazine shop and purchase one, instead I will walk to my local bar for a coffee and try to read any of several editions free.  In the middle of loud Italian conversations and the deep smell of cappuccinos, with my computer set on google translate, I will attempt to make a perfunctory attempt in translating a few articles. Translating is made difficult because the writing in Italian newspapers is loaded with a indigenous vernacular that cannot be translated literally with a dictionary.

  

   

March 2, 2016
Front Page

Today there was only one article in my bar’s  Italian newspaper having something to do with United States.  Nothing about the election, only a bit of information as to the fight between Apple and Obama over the cracking into the cell phone of the terrorist.  It was a good three paragraphs long with a photo of a cell phone.  

  

     Usually it’s always good to see what Italians think.  Sometimes I find that they see us more clearly than we see ourselves.  Sometimes I am embarrassed.  Oftentimes I am angry.   Today, they know nothing of the election, they have no idea of the politics behind the scenes.  They, of course, have their own political problems.

     I am also glad that Italians do not see American news, such as the kind one finds in yahoo.com.  There are many articles that I consider NOT newsworthy.  Who is wearing what, Who sang the National Anthem badly, A small plane lands safely in backyard after engine ices up, New fragrance inspired by Putin goes on sale in Russia, Best Marijuana Dispensaries in Colorado (according to Coloradans), and always the shootings:  today’s example is  about a  pastor’s brother shooting him during the choir singalong.

  

     Surely there are  more compelling issues such as, poverty, corruption, mass incarceration, pollution and downright greed.  It’s a lot easier to write about what dress was worn at the Oscar’s.  Let’s face it, a reporter can watch the event at home in her pajamas and bang it out on the keyboard a lot easier than digging and researching  important issues.   Walter Cronkite, where are you?

     Do we really need to know what Hollywood celebrity has just put their massive home on sale, or that a  Bucks County woman surprises husband with baby announcement on flight,  or how about A Woman Loses Pants On Carnival Ride?  I am sure the amusement park increased their ticket sales with that “woman loses pants article”.   

     One begins to consider, where did that article come from?  Who is it meant for?  Someone did a poll recently and the results revealed that one in 10 college graduates think that Judge Judy sits on the Supreme Court.  Makes one wonder, doesn’t it?  Is the percentage higher in South Carolina?

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1.40 Euros

Right now, sitting here in my village bar,  the sun has finally conquered the clouds and the rain here and is shining brightly in the window of my bar.   One older lady, who comes every day for her social fix, and the barista owner discuss the issues of the day.  The wind has calmed and I see by the weather report that temperatures will rise this week and put an end to winter.  The lizard I saw last week will come out from his hole in the wall, and soon I will be able to have my coffee Americano outside in the sun.  Life will seem better.  Spring is a good time to be in Italy.

Ciao!