ANOTHER PIECE OF LORE came from retired IRS agent Frank Cox, who has become a good friend at Sunday morning coffee gatherings at the Caribou Coffee Shop on Bluemound & Calhoun, Brookfield. Today, he instructed us in the call to shout when set upon by a gnat-cloud of children pickpockets, as he was, in Rome.Frank was touring Italy, one of several countries he's traveled to. Approached by a waif seeking a small offering he reached into his pocket for his billfold. He was immediately swarmed by a large group of kids all bent on purposefully taking Frank's valuables.
Frank is a linguist. He is self-effacing and modest. He speaks several languages. He instantly called out in a loud voice, "Giu le Mani! Giu le Mani!" DOWN THE HANDS! Down the HANDS!
The children went skipping away making a playful song of Frank's warning. "Giu - le - mani, Giu - le - mannnnni......" He knew he'd been understood.
These are the kinds of useful information one can pick up with these erudite friends over Sunday morning coffee or tea.
Another example: The SRN has received our second issue of the monthly, THE LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS, which was subscribed to after being recommended by Frank.
Soon to be appearing in the Raccoon News from current issue of the London Review of Books will be a mental asylum memoir by John Burnside, titled Who Chose Them? The article mentions a condition called 'apophenia' that Burnside suffered, which is the extreme tendency to find elaborate patterns and significance in everything.
Though the term was unknown to this editor, it rung true. When he emerged from open heart surgery in '05 and began a long recovery in nursing homes, he paid particular note and study of a wallpaper border that ran around his room, at the ceiling. It was a repetitious floral design but he was convinced the design was actually of rats chasing each other's tails. It became an obsession, though unfeared.
This gradually subsided, along with several other manifestations, and we were released into society again, as was John Burnside.
The point is, had it not been for Frank Cox, the IRS guy, it is very unlikely we would have
gained this knowledge!
