CC-Villas - Blog

A lady, non Italian, went for shopping at Rome IKEA just a few days before Christmas: The usual ladies’ full IKEA programme, but unfortunately (though anything but unusual) very much in a hurry. So she walks through all IKEA departments as so nicely “arranged” by this kind of supermarkets, “clients friendly and inviting”…..
When she had done all her shopping she realised with some degree of horror that she had lost her handbag: she either had left it somewhere or had deposited it in someone else’s trolley (see her hurry). In any case, the handbag is gone, and with it all the usual documents like ID card, driver’s license, credit cards etc. And, of course, all the cash she had carried with her. In other words: the worst case possible (I’ve never ever found out what ladies can carry around in what they call a handbag and what for….)
All desperate searching remains without any result, panic level is going up exponentially. What remains in the end is the not all too promising rush to the check-out, maybe one would detect someone who tries to sneak out with the “treasure” under the arm……
But, the miracle happens: while she is speeding to the check-out her full name is announced over loudspeaker, the handbag has been found, plus – and here is the core of the miracle – delivered by another client with all its contents. What follows is the usual administration through all channels, identification (with no ID card in hand), description of what should have been in the handbag, some forms to fill – nevertheless a beautifully pre-Christmas surprise. Typical Italian honesty? Specifically friendly mood in that season? Who knows, perhaps it has been just a nice and gentle mixture of both. In any event: another reassuring experience in this country with its charm and high degree of humanity.