BONUS: They called the local police on us!

 This special issue update to yesterday’s blog is to describe the police actions we were a part of yesterday.

This anecdote begins in Herculaneum, where we encountered a tour guide at the front gates. These are licensed sanctioned tour guides that are allowed to offer tours. We met Connie and signed ourselves up for a private tour. Connie offered to meet us at Pompeii, which I was grateful for. I didn’t want to have the same stories told to us twice, and Connie already knew what we had heard and seen.  She was also especially kind to Jane, and seemed dedicated to Jane having a great time. Win!

After our Pompeii tour, we parted ways after generous cash payment for her services.  We thought that was all we would hear from Connie.  We were wrong.  Connie called me yesterday morning although I didn’t answer from the car.  I speculated that we

had dropped something that had been found or that Connie had in her pocket.  An ID perhaps?  She was very well known by the employees at both sites  that was possible.  Avoiding interrupting our new tour guide Francesco, I texted her back.  I leave the reader with a document of our exchange.  Before you read, I want to be clear that we have no further exchange or tours arranged with Connie.

 Is this point in the exchange had me puzzled and more than a little concerned.  She called the local police?  Jane lost control of herself laughing in the van.  We three then all couldn’t stop giggling in the back of the tour van.  Joel had worries that the woman had some unknown beef with us.  I wondered if that was exaggeration and perhaps a Napoli turn of phrase?  We have already learned that “wash your hands” is the accepted euphemism for “use the bathroom”.  Maybe “call the local police” is the same.  

We collectively decided to show the texts to Francesco to see if there was a cultural interpretation we were missing, but before we had a moment we got more messages.

After her initial response confirming she contacted the local police, we really distracted our van by heartily laughing in the back row.  She literally called the police about us.  All I could think to write was “Thanks for thinking of us” which Jane quoted and howled with laughter over for hours.

As you can judge for yourself, the conversation took a few more unexpected twists, ending with a “love you” which perhaps doesn’t translate literally.

From our American perspective, “love you” is a bit premature perhaps.  I think the entire exchange might have been an offer for dinner that we didn’t understand. Or maybe she just liked us and wanted to know what we were up to.  Either way, it was a failure to translate cultures at the very minimum.  

If you’re wondering, either the local Amalfi police deeemed us no threat or untreated.  Either way, we had no encounter with them.  Whew.