Pronto
Soccorso (cont'd)
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I handed
her the slip of paper with Jay's name on it and the word "Otonoria" checked off and proceeded to explain the situation again, reiterating
that we were Americans on vacation. They examined the paper for a minute,
then asked Jay to sit down in a dilapidated dentist's chair, next to
a table with various medical instruments that looked as if they belonged
in a museum strewn about and an uncapped, half-filled syringe lying
on its side.
One
went to see about rustling us up a doctor, then returned to say he was
operating, and would be down "subito" (which translates literally
as "immediately," but in Italy rarely implies such haste). I asked how
"subito" and got the thrust lower-lip and shrug of shoulders Boh' in
response. There were a few moments of silence, which Jay broke with
the observation that there were no sharps containers and that used syringes
were just tossed in the Hefty-lined trash cans along with the rest of
the waste. I pointed out the medical instruments and he sort of edged
away from them.
The
nurses were nice, and engaged us in conversation. They pointed out that
I was too young to have such gray hair, and one came over to paw at
it. A third, overweight nurse with curly black hair arrived, She was
swathed in green hospital garb and spoke only Sicilian dialect. She
commented loudly that there was a word for graying early and said it.
One of the other nurses corrected her by repeating the proper Italian
version of the word, but she reiterated the Sicilian one before lighting
up a cigarette and getting on the phone to yell at someone on the other
end for a few minutes. The blond nurse looked at us and shrugged her
shoulders and the other one made the Boh' face again.
They
hung around as if there was nothing in particular for a nurse to be
doing around a hospital but sit and chat. The Boh' nurse asked how young
I was, to be having such gray hair, and the blonde immediately answered
"he's 25." I said yes, exactly, how did you know? The other nurse exclaimed
"25!" then the loud overweight nurse got off the phone stared at me
for a moment, and then asked loudly if I was in any movies. I said no,
and she said I should go to Hollywood and be in movies. The Boh' nurse
said yes, I looked like "that Leonardo di Caprio guy" (she's the fourth
Italian woman to see this specious resemblance; two years ago I apparently
resembled Hugh Grant, which still quite a long shot but a bit more credible
as far as the general shape of my face goes). The blond nurse agreed
that yes, I could be in movies. The loud, overweight nurse lit a second
cigarette and announced that if I went to Hollywood some director would
see me and put me in a movie. They she nodded as if having made some
grave pronouncement and pushed through the door, leaving only a cloud
of smoke and a large space of silence behind her. Jay said I should
study the poster next to me that had all the parts of the inner ear
on it, in case he got an ear infection later.
The
blonde nurse asked how old Jay was and he replied "Vent'uno."
Both nurse threw their arms up in the air and the blonde turned to the
Boh' nurse and repeated "Ma vent'uno, solo vent'uno anni!" The
other nurse said "Ma e piccolo, solo un piccolo." "What did she
say" asked Jay. "She said you were 'piccolo,' a little one."
This bothered Jay. "Little!" he exclaimed. "I'm a good foot and half
taller than any of these Sicilians!" He still hasn't gotten over it,
I think.
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