Le Storie di Oscar

The industry executive of the IRI was having a little substantial lunch in the canteen located on the top floor of the building in via Versilia in Rome. A prestigious canteen where sometimes the president of the powerful para-public institute was surrounded by his closest and most high-sounding collaborators.  A canteen where those who wanted, in addition to the first, second and side dish, could ask for free fruit, cake, coffee and coffee killer.  "Doctor (he was a PHD) 'so-and-so' is wanted on the phone ..." the loudspeaker croaked. "Not even time to eat a hard-boiled egg with salad ..." sighed the industry executive who was on a strict diet precisely because of that canteen he had put on five kilos too much.    He went to an internal phone and picked up the receiver: "Doctor, (the voice was that of an elderly secretary who was on duty), your wife has been taken hostage by a bank robber, but she's fine ..." The industry exe

   L'alto dirigente dell'Iri (ma in effetti era alto solo 1 m e 65 sul livello del mare) stava consumando un poco sostanzioso pranzo nella mensa situata all'ultimo piano del palazzo in via Versilia a Roma.  Una mensa prestigiosa dove talvolta capitava di trovarsi accanto anche il presidente del potente istituto para pubblico circondato dai suoi più stretti e altisonanti collaboratori. Una mensa dove chi voleva, oltre al primo, secondo e contorno, poteva chiedere gratis frutta, dolce, caffè e ammazza caffè. "Il dottor tal dei tali è desiderato al telefono…" gracchio' l'altoparlante.   "Nemmeno il tempo di mangiare un uovo sodo con insalata…" sospirò l'alto-basso dirigente che era a dieta stretta perché proprio per colpa di quella mensa aveva messo su ben cinque chili di troppo. Si diresse verso un telefono interno ed alzo' la cornetta: "Dottore, (la voce era quella di una sua attempata segretaria che era di turno), sua mogl

  Still some distant snapshots taken from the memory of my Chinese travels many years ago In Beijing we are hosted in the Diaoyutai Guesthouse which has become famous for the meeting promoted between Mao Tse Tung and Nixon, thanks to the talent of Dr. Kissinger.    We sleep three people in one room, but the place is very nice with ponds and single units. The Chinese have started the construction of the mega hotels, says the guide, but it will be necessary to have a little patience. "Even if we are very fast" he concludes.  _____________________________    China and the Soviet Union.    These are two realities administered by the same Communist Party which is not the same because in the Soviet Union the transformation will take place in blood while here in China the party has now decided to leave a minimum of freedom to individuals to boost the economy.    After the terrible years under Mao who had transformed China into a state where denunciation reigned, with mi

  Ancora qualche lontana istantanea tratta dal ricordo dei miei viaggi cinesi di molti anni fa     A Pechino siamo ospitati nella Diaoyutai Guesthouse diventata famosa per l'incontro promosso tra Mao Tse Tung e Nixon, grazie al talento del dottor Kissinger.  Dormiamo in tre persone in una stanza, ma il luogo e' molto bello con laghetti e singole unita'. I cinesi hanno dato il via alla costruzione dei mega alberghi, dice la guida, ma bisognera' avere un po' di pazienza." Anche se noi siamo molto veloci" conclude. _____________________________ Cina e Unione Sovietica.  Si tratta di due realtà amministrate da uno stesso partito comunista che poi non è lo stesso perché in Unione Sovietica la trasformazione avverrà nel sangue mentre qui in Cina il partito ha deciso ora di lasciare un minimo di libertà agli individui per dare slancio all'economia.  Dopo gli anni terribili sotto Mao che aveva trasformato la Cina in uno stato dove imperava la delazi

( Warning for the reader: these are some snapshots in the memory of the trips made in China. They do not pretend to draw a complex reality like the Chinese one of the 80s. These are small personal experiences that have a value only for the writer).  The 1980s were those of China's awakening, thanks to Deng Xiaoping , the "little helmsman" who had denounced the mistakes of his predecessor and planned the reform of the socialist system.  _ ______________________________________________  I worked in the Societa' Metallurgica Italiana leader of non-ferrous metals in Europe. SMI sold kilometers of Lega 10 to the Chinese (a copper-clad steel cable for telephone lines to replace the very expensive copper one). The Chinese were excellent payers and were opening up to the Western world by soliciting numerous economic missions to their country.  The president of my company, Luigi Orlando, was vice president for years of Confindustria (the main association repr