The Tourist
Banned
I printed this story--all true--in KnifeForums, and I hope it gives you as much of a laugh as it did for me. Enjoy!
The city I live in, Madison, Wisconsin, is going through a serious crime spree. Even in my bedroom community the number of break-ins is increasing. My wife and I finally got a sophisticated alarm system.
Anyhoo, we have a mutual friend, an Italian woman of smaller stature who lives alone with her dog. Numerous times she has expressed concern.
Last week, my wife, my SIL, this woman and I all had dinner together. As a gift, I gave the woman a real-deal, bone handled Sicilian stiletto. Remarkably, she was overjoyed.
I explained to her that stilettos had numerous blade styles. Some for stabbing, some with a blade length fuller, and some (like hers) which had a flat, featureless blade for sharpening.
This style, in the 1930's, might have been used as a picnic knife in Napoli. We call it a "cheese knife."
When she left the restaurant, she drove to see her parents, who are elderly but have sharp mental acuity. Her Dad knew what it was immediately, and informed her that he had not seen such a knife outside of Italy, and not for several decades. He began to tell her the history.
During this exchange, her mother took notice and leaned forward with a question.
She asked,"Perché questo uomo pazzesco gli ha dato una lama per il formaggio di taglio?"
We found it funny that an elderly woman would look at a stiletto--a tool most everyone thinks is a weapon--and wonder about the gift of a "cheese knife."
It was the laugh I needed for the day...
The city I live in, Madison, Wisconsin, is going through a serious crime spree. Even in my bedroom community the number of break-ins is increasing. My wife and I finally got a sophisticated alarm system.
Anyhoo, we have a mutual friend, an Italian woman of smaller stature who lives alone with her dog. Numerous times she has expressed concern.
Last week, my wife, my SIL, this woman and I all had dinner together. As a gift, I gave the woman a real-deal, bone handled Sicilian stiletto. Remarkably, she was overjoyed.
I explained to her that stilettos had numerous blade styles. Some for stabbing, some with a blade length fuller, and some (like hers) which had a flat, featureless blade for sharpening.
This style, in the 1930's, might have been used as a picnic knife in Napoli. We call it a "cheese knife."
When she left the restaurant, she drove to see her parents, who are elderly but have sharp mental acuity. Her Dad knew what it was immediately, and informed her that he had not seen such a knife outside of Italy, and not for several decades. He began to tell her the history.
During this exchange, her mother took notice and leaned forward with a question.
She asked,"Perché questo uomo pazzesco gli ha dato una lama per il formaggio di taglio?"
We found it funny that an elderly woman would look at a stiletto--a tool most everyone thinks is a weapon--and wonder about the gift of a "cheese knife."
It was the laugh I needed for the day...
