Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Colds, Drafts and Germs
I
f you ever find yourself in a major urban center in Tuscany on a lovely day in April, you'll
find that's it's easy to tell the locals from the foreign tourists. The Italians are all wearing
dark winter coats and scarves; the Americans are strolling around in T-shirts. For the Italians
it's partly a matter of convention, i.e., not wanting to break out the spring colors and fash-
ions before it's appropriate. But, more importantly, it's caution: in the early season it might
feel warm and comfy, but you never know when a cool breeze might suddenly come round
the corner carrying disease and devastation in its wake.
Italians fear and hate the wind, and they steer clear of it whenever they possibly can. On a
brisk, sunny day you might mention to people how lovely the weather is. There's a sympath-
etic nod, but then they throw up their hands and shake their heads. “Yes, and what a pity
there's that wind today to ruin it all…”
When Italians get sick, they always put a little scarf around their necks to help them get well
sooner. If it's summertime and brutally hot, they'll typically wear a rolled up bandana or a
light neckerchief. I have no idea if it helps them shorten the length of their colds, but I know
it helps us to immediately recognize when people are sick. When you stand around waiting
for your kids to get out of school and make small talk with the other parents, you learn to
look for the scarf around the neck so you can give those folks a wide berth. From our per-
spective Italians seem blissfully unaware of the risks of contagion when they are sick. They
will stand six inches away from you, coughing and spewing and telling you about their fever
and chills, and they don't seem to understand at all why you keep backing away from them
as they speak.
On more than one occasion we've had to send home a housekeeper or a babysitter who
shows up sick as a dog and is completely oblivious to the fact that she is putting our family
at risk by coughing and sneezing all over us. She's convinced that as long as we keep all the
windows shut, there's no danger of us getting a cold. Louis Pasteur was some old French
guy who had a theory about germs, but we all know that it's drafts that make us sick.
***
In the heat of the summer most of the folks in our village sleep with their windows closed.
When temperatures become truly unbearable and the stone houses heat up like ovens, some
of our neighbors will begin to leave their shutters open at night. Over breakfast coffee in the
bar, as people commiserate over how hot it's been, you'll hear someone say, “I slept with
my windows open last night.” The line is delivered with a defensive air of self-justification,
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