Spit and the City

One of the first things you notice about New York, I am sorry to say, is that it STINKS! Have you ever been to New York in summer? Oh boy, some corners are just "yummy". The second thing you notice is that, for some unknown reason, everyone spits in this city. What is all of that about? Do people in this city have extra-sized tongues to go with the extra-sized Mc-meals that they produce way much more saliva than they can actually swallow? I have seen all types of spitters, from the homeless person to the guy in suite and tie, from the white collar to the blue collar, males and females all together. Spitting parties anyone? Naturally, the spitting itself is not just a spitting experience but it comes with all of those "suiting" sounds that usually come before a spitting, making the experience soooo charming.

I have a fond and undeletable memory of what I consider my "best" spitting experience so far. It all happened in an Indian store that prepared Indian rolls to go here in NYC. After ordering the rolls, having them made in front of me and started eating them, I notice an older lady in the back of the kitchen preparing the dough for the rolls. The woman was standing in front of a marble-looking table working the rolls' dough with her hands, right next to her, in the middle of the small kitchen, there was a big trash can like the ones people put in front of their brownstone buildings. For each roll she made she would spit in the trash can 5 or six times .... looking at me and spitting, looking at me and spitting, all while working the dough.

Yep, that was it for me ...

To give or not to give!? (Part 2)

Last year my wife and I decided to buy a new sofa and replace our ten-years-old futon. In good american spirit we decided to donate the old futon to charity. The futon was in really good shape, we just wanted to replace it because we were trying to vhange the look of our apartment from "students living here" to "adults living here". The Salvation Army was our choice for the give-away. We planned everything, the people from the Salvation Army (pfSA) would come and get our futon a day or so before the new sofa had to be delivered. We felt very good about it because we are not into throwing things away but rather have someone else re-use them. Well, we had NO IDEA what was about to happen. To make a long story short, the pfSA did not take the futon because it had an old coffe stain on it. WHAT??? Are the needy people really in need in this country or not? If you can refuse to get a free futon because of an old coffee stain then you are NOT in need in my books. I, as a student, would have not blinked in accepting for free a used futon with a stain on it. Are you guys serious? The pfSA should have rushed at home, got the futon, kissed us all over and left.

If you say "no" to a free futon because of an old stain you are NOT in need. Should poor people get used and perhaps not-so-new things just because they are poor? YEEEESSSS!!! They should! That's the whole point of being poor: you cannot afford to buy things and have to rely on whatever people are willing to give you. If you are really hungry you will eat anything that is offered to you and will not say "ooohhh no I do not like olives, take it back!".
The very sad thing is that I am sure a poor person would have been very happy to get our used futon, but not the pfSA apparently. Furthermore, I am sure I could have sold it on Ebay for a few bucks and so could have they. Is the Salvation Army doing the best for the poors?

...do not want a free futon with a coffee stain on it? Go find a JOB!

To give or not to give!? (Part 1)

I have to say this is an interesting phenomenon here in the US. I am talking about the homeless people and charity organizations. One of the first odd things you notice about this country is the enormous number of young homeless people around, even in their 20s! How is this possible? Where I come from (Italy .. surprise!) there are very few homeless and either they are very old or they are not italians but come from other European countries. In this second case they stay homeless only for the time needed to collect some money and move on with their life. Even the people coming from Africa illegally try to make a living selling illegal copies of DVDs and CDs. Granted, this is NOT what they should do, but at least they do no beg, they have some pride. They organize themselves so that they can earn a living by actively doing something; even though illegal, they find it better than begging. If they were not illegal, they would find a normal job.

Things, however, seem to be different in the States. Almost all the homeless people I see are americans, all immigrants (illegal and not) actually work!!! Isn't this ironic? For some reason being homeless seems to be a choice here. You prefer to be homeless because you do not want to work. I always see the same people begging, can't they collect some money and try to move on? Nope. Why? Because thay got accustomed to that lifestyle and now they are comfortable. "You are young! Go get a job!". But as I said, here, for some reason things work differently here.
The other day I saw in the subway a mother with her kid, she sat and started reading a magazine while her kid started to sell candies in the subway. WHAT? Are you really letting your kid sell candies in the subway for him to make some extra money? Are you KIDDING me?

Oh Brother were art thou?

Yes, I know I have been kind of lame lately with this blog but I had a lot to do at work. Plus I always get these blog thoughts always in the subway on my way to work ... oh yes, I should write about this, right this would be cool to write about ... but then by the time I get home in the evening I am so tired I just let it go. However, for some reason, this weeked I feel more energetic and am able to press a few buttons on my keyboard, so here ya go!

P.S.
Have I mentioned that we are WORLD CHAMPIONS??? muah muah muah ... drink to me butthead Zidane.

ILLEGAL CABLE COMPETITION?

So, apparently I do not know what free market is. I have been trying to get the best deal in terms of cable service, but apparently there is no best deal available, there is only the deal. Right now I am using Time Warner Cable as cable provider. I got the digital TV pack and it seems that in order to have digital TV you need to select at least the 50 bucks package. I am now thinking to go back to non digital TV as my TV screens are small and video quality is not that great. However, a while ago I noticed that another cable provider had some good deals going on. I am referring to Optimum.

So, I decided to check with them what kind of deal I could get. You know what they answered me? They told me that my area was served by Time Warner Cable and so I should get in touch with them. WHAT?????? I do not have any choice? You are telling me that the cable companies have formed some kind of cartel where they split the areas to cover so that they do not overlap?! This means that they can all make money, deciding to charge whatever they want since the customer does not have any choice!!!
This is not free market! This is free mafia! Is this even legal at all????? So I guess I am stuck with my cable company and their prices and service! I am surprised no one is saying anything about this. What would happen if we had to have the same thing for cell-phones? Can you imagine?
Think people think!

ITALIA - USA 1-1

OK, so the game between Italy and USA ended up 1 to 1. I have to tell you that I expected more from Italy, however, let's not go in detail.
I watched it on ABC and I have to say that watching the game hearing the commentary done by the other team's people is a TORTURE!

Yeahhh goooal!(me) "...this is a very bad moment for us..." (them)
Good! He got a red card (me) "...the referee is completely wrong here..." (them)
You got the idea.

The funny thing is that by the end of the match, the hosts of the program broadcasting the match announced that they had more news about that particular referee. Of course as always in America, you 've got the whole life and school records of everyone involved in the match, especially of the "bad" referee and all of this by the end of a 90 min. match.
FORZA AZZURRI!!!