L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers, New York's governor, An- drew Cuomo has become a familiar face on television as his state has become the na- tional epicenter of the Covid- 19 pandemic. Cuomo has used his televised briefings to level with the public about the risks of reopening the econ- omy too soon. His brother, Chris Cuomo was asked by Andrew to come forward and out a public face on the coro- navirus so that the number of people impacted were not just abstract statistics. W h e n o u r p r e s i d e n t pushed to reopen the econo- m y a s s o o n a s p o s s i b l e , Cuomo spoke about prioritiz- i n g s a v i n g l i v e s o v e r t h e stock market. "My mother is not expendable," he said. "Your mother is not expend- able. We will not put a dollar figure on human life." He has made his mom, Matilda, the face of every senior citizen in harm's way. I want you to know that Andrew Cuomo truly feels that way and is not j u s t s p r o u t i n g p o l i t i c a l rhetoric. Way back in 1996, at the suggestion of a Reader, I wrote about him. "Signor A.R., while read- ing an article on 'The Art of Captivating Conversation' by Larry King, I thought this excerpt would make good fodder for column: "Former Governor Mario C u o m o o f N e w Y o r k i s a delightful dinner companion, but his son Andrew is just as entertaining. Cuomo will not only agree with me on this - he'll tell you why. Andrew Cuomo gave up a promising law career to serve in the Clinton administration as an A s s i s t a n t S e c r e t a r y o f H o u s i n g a n d U r b a n Development. He is a sophis- ticated, well-rounded person, both interesting and interest- ed. I told the governor over the phone one day how much I enjoy talking to Andrew w h e n I r a n i n t o h i m i n Washington, and what a well rounded young man I found h i m t o b e . T h e n , C u o m o senior told me that there was a reason for that, a gift few of us have, and Andrew was alert enough to reap the full advantage of it. Governor C u o m o s a i d : a l l f o u r o f Andrew's grandparents lived until he was thirty. " A n d r e w , h i s f a t h e r explained, was always kind and thoughtful toward his grandparents. He talked to them, asked them questions, and listened to their experi- ences.These were four elderly people from Italy, born at the start of the 20th century, w h e n p e o p l e t r a v e l e d b y horse and cart, with no elec- tric light, no radio, when dis- eases that have long since been eradicated were killers, family members and neigh- bors never made it past the first few grades in school, and news from outside the village arrived by word of mouth. "The point is that Andrew grew up listening to the peo- ple around him and contin- ues that practice to this day. A s a r e s u l t , h e i s a w e l l - rounded conversationalist because of what he learned on a wide range of subjects, and his habit of listening makes him an enjoyable per- son to talk to. *** Joys of Italian Humor, by H.D. Spalding was sitting on my bookshelf so thought I w o u l d e x i t w i t h a b i t o f humor. Disillusioned An Immigrant, who had always believed those old sto- r i e s t h a t t h e s t r e e t s o f America were paved with gold, learned the awful truth when he reached New York. In a plaintive letter to his wife who had remained in Italy until he could send for h e r , h e w r o t e : " T h e o n l y t h i n g y o u c a n g e t i n t h e United States without work- ing is hungry!" G i a n n i n i ' s H a t c h e t Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. Man This anecdote goes back a half century or more. The s c e n e i s a w o o d e d a r e a o f s o m e t e n a c r e s , n e a r S a n F r a n c i s c o , w h i c h h a d j u s t b e e n p u r c h a s e d b y t h e e s t i m a b l e A . P . G i a n n i n i , f o u n d e r o f t h e B a n k o f America. Mr. Giannini want- ed the property cleared of trees so that he could build homes. He approached a gar- dener. The old-timer spoke very little English, so their discussion was conducted in Italian. "Do you think you can cut d o w n a l l t h e s e t r e e s i n a week?" asked the bank presi- dent. "I'll have the job finished by tomorrow," said the gar- dener matter-of-facility. " W h a t ! " e x c l a i m e d Giannini. "Just one day? But that's impossible! We don't have any power tools." "I have a small hatchet," said the Gardner. "It will be enough." T h e n e x t d a y G i a n n i n i returned to the property, and there, Io and behold, every single tree had been chopped down! The gardener was sit- ting on a fallen log, calmly smoking his pipe. Alongside him was his little hatchet. "I can't believe my eyes!" c r i e d G i a n n i n i , h i s v o i c e incredulous. "Where in the world did you ever learn to chop down trees like this?" " I n t h e S a h a r a D e s e r t , w h e n I w a s w i t h Mussolini's army in Africa," explained the old-timer. "But, my dear man, there are no trees in the Sahara." "No," agreed toehold one, "not now!"

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