Think On It

Anniversary: The Pump Guy

August 7th, 2007

This is the second post in the life of this blog. It was published two years ago and is still one of my favorites. He still lives down the road and I have since met his dad, who says, “Yes, he’s an intelligent man, but you should talk to his son. He’s even brighter.”

On about the 4th of July, two policemen came to my house with a letter from our water cooperative saying by force of law we were not to use potable water anymore for watering gardens and plants or washing cars or outdoor furniture. There would be a fine of 500 euro for any other than domestic use.
I went to my nice Baldicchi neighbors and said, “I have to buy a pump like yours, no matter what it costs, so I can take water from the river.” Certo! Their cousin down the road sells and installs pumps. Now, why didn’t I guess that they’d have a relative that did everything? Of course they do. As far as I know there are no nuclear physicists among the Baldicchi clan, but then one doesn’t use them much at home.
A couple of days later came the cousin. He is a stately man of about 60, and expert at the whole subject. We discussed where it would go, how the electricity would be reached, how much hose I would have to have, and he said he could be back Monday and it would be working that evening. He returned Friday, instead, but he was as good as his word for the rest.
Time passed, and I heard nothing more. Yesterday he returned to check out the system and see that it was all satisfactory, so I asked him why I hadn’t gotten a bill. I told him if I sold the house I would need to sell the pump with it and I would need proof of when I bought it and how much I paid (400 euro or about $500, but better than a fine because it works.) He said, “Tomorrow.”
And today it was. We started to discuss the difference among US checks and Italian checks and why Italian checks can so often be bad. From there, he went on to criticize the Italian government and the way the world runs. OK, I am used to everybody talking about politicians and taxes; it is the commonest thing in the world here, but I am not used to a demonstration using empty mineral water bottles to illustrate the basic fallacy of modern human life!
“There is one common thing among all peoples,” says he, “one thing that overrides everything. The only perfect law is Nature’s, and it works because every positive has another and equal negative side. We can’t be one people and we can’t save the world without concentrating on philosophy. Every people and every nation must develop wise men who study with their equals from every part of the world to discover what is that central focus of human life.” All this time he was moving water bottles from the recycling bag to show the center point (blue) and the seeking peoples– Arabs, Chinese, Africans, western countries, obviously skipping a lot of them because I didn’t have that many clear bottles. I could, however, see those yearning wise men and women talking, talking, maybe moving bottles around as they sought one common truth.
“I am not optimistic about the future. If I were told that if I died for it, humanity would find truth and live better, I would die, but I don’t think anyone is dying for any truth. They are dying for nothing.”
I find these occasions pretty amazing. I have heard searching and pointed discussions among electricians and plumbers and farmers and now pump guys, the kind of men that one expects to talk about soccer. They’ve read. They think. They care. They can’t all be like that, but I’ve met dozens whom I have heard talking about philosophy and with an understanding of world politics that impresses me.
I am equally impressed that I can understand them and ask the right questions and make myself understood. I don’t know if he is right. I don’t know if he moved the water bottles the right way. I don’t know if there is one single overriding truth. I sure wish I could be watching the wise ones when they start the search, though.

Entry Filed under: Italy, Brains