Sometimes I am quite naive. Definitely naïve! I was on my way home (stuck in the middle of a traffic jam, of course), when I saw a man who was selling fruit & flowers. His goods looked amazing; he had the best oranges and lemons I’ve ever seen - ideal for my dinner – and beautiful flowers – a kind thought for my mother – so, I parked the car and went there. This man, who looked like a pirate, blurted out : “May I help ya?” – I asked for a bag of oranges and lemons, and a buquet of flowers. He said: “Hahaha, you’re such a funny guy, I like people like you…what do you want?”. I tried to be more specific: “Oranges and lemons, 1 kilo each, and the white and yellow flowers”. He looked at me and said: “I don’t think you wanna get high, I think you came for Venus…or maybe you like Ludmilla; she’s so sweet! I am sure you don’t want “white dust”. I don’t know how he reached that conclusion…but it was suddenly clear that the wall behind him was hiding prostitutes and bags of cocaine. It was time to go!!
Later in the day, I went out walking and met Don Gennaro, the man who sells the best fruit at the local street market. I hadn’t seen him in months. There were rumors he was dead. He’s very old and drinks wine from dawn to dusk. I told him my story and asked for…you know…oranges and lemons. He said: “I am not here to sell anything, my son. I just want to be seen! I can’t work in the winter; it’s too cold…but I’ve heard certain rumors… Customers think I am dead and start buying fruit at other shops. That’s not good for me!! I’m here to show them I am alive and kicking!”. He gave me a glass of red wine and said that his “colleague” was really wise…girls, white dust…brilliant…simply brilliant…