Paulo is a good man of Italian descent with ritualized patterns of thought and behavior, almost to the point of obsessive-compulsive behavior, and hyper-protective instincts. Everything he does is to prevent possible future trouble for himself and those he loves.
At his daughter, Pescar’s university, Smivff College as Paulo called it, he valiantly helped her move all her stuff and go to turn in her keys.
At the Key-returning station, Pescar anxiously approached the woman at the desk to tell her the room key was lost.
The woman was surprisingly kind and casually explained room keys cost about $25 to replace and that they’d get to it eventually but to call if she found it. Cheaper than Pescar had thought!
Paulo broke in “shouldn’t they cost more? I mean a person who loses a key is putting others in danger if someone BAD finds it”
The woman behind the desk appeared slightly flustered.
“How much is it to replace the card? He continued
“Well one cards are about the cost of keys. I suppose if you lost all your keys you’d have to pay to replace them all which wouldn’t be fun”
She must have wondered, was this man a masochist? Did he want to be charged more?
“Well… well shouldn’t they change the lock? Replace both keys? She still has a roommate that could be in danger supposing someone BAD found the key and KNEW which room it was for”
Pescar broke in “Dad if you lose the house key they replace them all but everyone leaves their doors unlocked anyway and there’s no way someone would find the key and know which room it was for… that’s ridiculous”
Wrong thing to say.
Paulo “That’s very dangerous, Pescar. Do you want your roommate to be in danger? I hope you don’t leave your room unlocked in Geneva.”
Pescar headed for the door, knowing they would be there indefinitely if she didn’t do something. “Come on, Dad!”
The woman at the desk chuckled audibly.
***
On the way to their next stop, the post office, Paulo cheerily says “did you hear what that woman said? If you lose your house key, you have to pay for everyone’s keys to be replaced.”
“I think she was just saying that if you lose all your keys – like your whole lanyard it costs a lot”
“No no I think she said that…
And so forth
At the post office, Pescar just wanted to check her mailbox one last time. Finding it empty, she turned to leave. But Paulo said insistently “no you need to talk to this woman about getting your mail forwarded.”
“Dad I already filled out the form months ago”
“But You’re going abroad!”
“There was a box to check about going abroad”
“But do you get it forwarded to Switzerland? I don’t think that’s a very good idea, Pescar. What if the foreign government goes through it and sees that your debit card has been stolen and they see a bank statement that says you have no money and they don’t want you in their country!”
Pescar walked to the bookstore, speechless.
In ten minutes, he came to find her: “PESCAR!”
There was nothing to be done. If she didn’t talk to the post office lady, she would never get to go home.
“Talk to this woman. She’s very nice! You’re acting ridiculous” he said in a forceful whisper.
The post office woman looked like she’d had a long day already. In a monotone sales pitch she rattled off the routine procedure I was already aware of “You filled out your mail forwarding form, and you’ll get a postcard later asking for an address. You can put either your abroad address or get your mail sent home”
Okay. Thank you. Have a nice day.
“Pescar I think you should have your first class mail sent home. You don’t want it sent abroad that could be dangerous.”
“Dad, I already knew that I was going to get something in the mail about where to get it forwarded. It was kind of unnecessary to bother her in person. There are 2500 undergrads alone at this school. They don’t all go to talk to the person at the desk. There’s a system in place…”
“Pescar, not everyone talks to them. It’s very important to take care of it in person.”
And that was that.
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