Non c'e niente da fare.... There's nothing to do.....

Goddess Diana, the huntress, has her own cigarettes. This month the blue pack has the drawing of a hand on it. This is part of a new campaign, "Momenti Italiani"  I have seen this pack in the tabacchi for about week, so it can't be a very old campaign. Which leads me to conclude that this is the first installment. This first Italian moment of the campaign, according to Phillip Morris means:   

    "there is nothing to do"

Wow. Where do I begin? Is this an insult from the Swiss based Phillip Morris company? Is it mockery? Is it meant to be cute and harmless? Is it meant to pay honor to the hand signals which make speaking Italian a 3-D experience?
It is very possible, that as I sit inside during the infernal hot of the past few days, I am a bit delirious. But I find this a sad campaign. I have to ask, what population does it serve? If these hand signals are emblematically Italian, why is it interesting for the Italians to learn about them and presumably collect the remaining cards? It is their language after all. We have yet to see what the subsequent "Momenti Italiani" will be. They may not all be hand signals But a campaign launch presumably attracts attention. So I notice.

On the positive side, the box is visually interesting. It is different from other boxes , and may attract a buyer , that's good for the advertiser. Okay, I get that. Besides that I am having trouble finding things to compliment.

Why am I upset about this? Well, because it is emblematic of a part of the culture here that resists change despite suggestions to the fact that not everything is working just fine.

Where do I see this gesture? When is it used? In my experience I have seen it used to

• Correct someone, indicated "you are wrong about that." A quick shake of the head from side to side may accompany it.

• Underscore a situation that has always been a certain way, and absolutely nothing can be done about it.

• Scold someone. The fingers are shaken, side to side . The meaning in these cases are very clear, don't do anything about whatever it is ... the smaller the gesture, the more "inside knowledge " is indicated.

• Don't talk about this.

• Indicate that everything is just fine, even if it looks odd, there is nothing to change, no action required.
Similar in effect to "ci penso io " I'll take care of it. In these cases, meaning, it's being taken care of without your help.

• Butt out and mind your own business.

• Butt out and mind your own business, if you know what's good for you.

• Express "che sera sera", "what ever will be , will be" but not in a Doris Day kind of way. It's absolutely going to be a waste of time even getting upset about it.

• Express, "on the contrary"

• Meaning Oiy Ye. In these instances, the fingers shaking from side to side may increase in radius, and develop into an actual circular clockwise motion. The greater the movement, the larger the radius, the more ridiculous the notion. If the hands are rotating 5 or more inches, or involve forearm motion and rotation, the implication is hopelessness, and even stupidity to consider suggesting an alternative.

My husband thinks I am nuts, this gesture to him, means, "forget about it, it's not going to happen." And  he says it with a dismissive shake of the head.
This gesture is used a lot.

So what's it to me?  Stasis. Patriarchy. Tribal Hierarchy.

I see lots of folks in the shop every day. We open our doors amongst the many doors that lead directly into the kitchens and bedrooms of our neighbors. It is intimate. Very intimate.It is hard not to know about our neighbors' lives. Many share with us the details of their lives. When someone tells me a detail, a lie or a truth, if they tell me, for that moment it is important and a truth to me. I get emotional about the babies that come into the store ; I take great pride in knowing that I was the last customer for our neighbor baker as he entered retirement. I am sentimental, I get emotional at displays of sincerity. And in the shop the conversations display sincere frustration. Illness, health, Italian bureaucracy, the flooded out artichokes this season, the mother in law, the aging mother, the intrusive and disrespectful mother and the frequent, "what has Berlusconi done for me?"

In a word, impotence.  Their frustration is "non c'e niente da fare"!

It works well enough, here in Sicily I have heard the saying that at least in Sicily if you cant work, you will still have a place to live and food to eat. If you get a job, you will also have food to eat and a place to live. A motivation to work? Not really. From what I have seen, the remnants of an aristocracy infuse the thinking, the education and the consumer habits of my neighbors.

The power structures are long standing and well accommodated. People do what they know to do, in the best way they know how.

I make no judgement of the grandmother, the eldest of 13 children, who learned to scrape and save during the allied occupation during world war II in a small agricultural town in central Sicily. The lies and manipulation she employed to save in order to buy a home served her, and those same skills served the son who eventually stole it from her.

I make no judgement of the family whose business selling panella sandwiches could not pay for winter coats for anyone, but somehow after the father started going back and forth to the United States for a few days at a time, they were mysteriously able to buy a large house on the outside of town, easily supporting 4 families.

I make no judgement of the girls who get pregnant without love or respect for their partners, but use the tools at their disposal to have a life of their own making.

Everyone is doing what they know to do in a system where change or the suggestion of another way is a criticism of the status quo , with high costs. Every family here has a story about a lost relative due to a misunderstanding, an offense or isolated courageous resistance to oppression or thievery.

But does it still work? Is this gesture really just a funny, cute "Italian Moment" or is it a perfect example of how the rest of Europe sees us? Non c'e niente da fare.

With a slight modification and a redirection of movement his gesture easily becomes the one for Cornuto. A fool, a betrayed one, a man cheated on by his wife. A castrated man.

In the land of Cazzo, a word having hundreds of uses, it all comes back to the male organ.

In my limited view, the "non c'e niente da fare" serves only those who are in power. Be it the local criminal, the local bully, the prime minister or the dominating mother.

But I would offer that it has already taken it's toll. You say something long enough and frequently enough, not only do you believe it, but your body does too.  Recent statistics report that male impotence is a problem in Italy. Aiy, aiy, aiy.

How long will "non c'e niente da fare" serve us?