It all started in a pub go figure, a friend of mine here in Napoli was talking about money with another friend of mine. My curiosity drew me into the conversation...posso posso i said (can i can i)....
His eyes lit up! You want to work? I said always, why not? I figured it would be an odd job and i would make a few bucks and maybe some contacts. He kept running his fingers together soldi soldi he said (money) his enthusiasm was making me excited maybe their will be some real money to be made. He said he would pick me up tomorrow at 5 in the morning and we would make manifesti. Manifesti is when you put flyers around the street and billboards of political figures for campaign.
Im thinking this should be fun, something i've definitely never done before. He also said i would get 35 euros per hour. This is great considering the average hourly wage in southern italy is around 4 euros per hour. So i got a few hours of sleep set my alarm , grabbed some beat up clothes out of my cousins closet and i was off. A bucket of water with the glue mix and some brushes to brush the glue over the poster's. He starts to speed away recklessly, "ok gary we need to do this fast,fast". Im thinking what the hell am i doing its pitch black 5 in the morning im in the car with a crazy guy a bucket of glue posters of a guy ive never seen in my life and it all started to come together why everyone in the bar didn't jump to this opportunity.
I asked him is it legal? "UHH yeah yeah don't worry , its not legal exactly but nobody cares". Im thinking to myself then why the hell are we doing it at 5 in the morning and you are dressed in all black. As i was thinking skreeech! the car come to a halt , he jumps out with the bucket pops the trunk and tells me to grab the posters in the back. He starts slapping glue all over another guys poster and then i realized this isn't looking so good. We put about 20 posters over the competitor and moved on to the next, everything seemed peachy keen.
We do this for about an hour, then the second to last spot i hop out. Hands filled with glue a little tired from waking up early. I walk up to the billboard and scope it out while my friend fills the bucket with more water from a street fountain. This time it was different , holy shit these posters are still wet , the competitor must be right here somewhere. If he sees us putting posters over his 5 minutes after he did im sure it will lead to a political fist fight.
Then it happened "CHE CAZZO STAI FACCENDO?" someone yelled out meaning what the f@ck are you doing. The man starts running at me with a gleam in his eye and the 5 foot brush he used to put up the posters. I knew he would swing it by the tone in his voice. I got a rush of adrenaline and launched grabbing the stick from his hand throwing it over the fence and started beating him. After a few punches ,my friend runs over starts speaking Napolitan to the man and he tells me to get off. The man runs back to his car and speeds off like he can't believe what happened.
"Abbiamo vinto"!!! my friend said..(we won) With the adrenaline still running through my veins i celebrate not because we won because i'm great full the guy didn't shoot or stab me. So i ask him does that always happen. He said "Yeah all the time but nobody usually fights they just run away , and go somewhere else.
Holy shit really i mean that guy looked like he wanted to fight. NO NO he just wanted to tell you to move to a different spot., but don't worry we won now we own it. We decided to make it our last stop and headed to my cousins bar for a cafe'. My friend still talking about the fight im thinking shit 35 euros bloody knuckles glue in my eyes , chance of getting arrested..
IS IT REALLY WORTH GIVING EVERY OPPORTUNITY A SHOT? WILL I CONTRADICT MY SELF AND START JUDGING AND ANALYZING EVERYTHING BEFORE I TRY IT......HECK NO!
ONE OF THE CRAZIEST EXPERIENCES IVE HAD ON FOREIGN SOIL YET!
AND I GOT PAID FOR IT!
Im thinking this should be fun, something i've definitely never done before. He also said i would get 35 euros per hour. This is great considering the average hourly wage in southern italy is around 4 euros per hour. So i got a few hours of sleep set my alarm , grabbed some beat up clothes out of my cousins closet and i was off. A bucket of water with the glue mix and some brushes to brush the glue over the poster's. He starts to speed away recklessly, "ok gary we need to do this fast,fast". Im thinking what the hell am i doing its pitch black 5 in the morning im in the car with a crazy guy a bucket of glue posters of a guy ive never seen in my life and it all started to come together why everyone in the bar didn't jump to this opportunity.
I asked him is it legal? "UHH yeah yeah don't worry , its not legal exactly but nobody cares". Im thinking to myself then why the hell are we doing it at 5 in the morning and you are dressed in all black. As i was thinking skreeech! the car come to a halt , he jumps out with the bucket pops the trunk and tells me to grab the posters in the back. He starts slapping glue all over another guys poster and then i realized this isn't looking so good. We put about 20 posters over the competitor and moved on to the next, everything seemed peachy keen.
We do this for about an hour, then the second to last spot i hop out. Hands filled with glue a little tired from waking up early. I walk up to the billboard and scope it out while my friend fills the bucket with more water from a street fountain. This time it was different , holy shit these posters are still wet , the competitor must be right here somewhere. If he sees us putting posters over his 5 minutes after he did im sure it will lead to a political fist fight.
Then it happened "CHE CAZZO STAI FACCENDO?" someone yelled out meaning what the f@ck are you doing. The man starts running at me with a gleam in his eye and the 5 foot brush he used to put up the posters. I knew he would swing it by the tone in his voice. I got a rush of adrenaline and launched grabbing the stick from his hand throwing it over the fence and started beating him. After a few punches ,my friend runs over starts speaking Napolitan to the man and he tells me to get off. The man runs back to his car and speeds off like he can't believe what happened.
"Abbiamo vinto"!!! my friend said..(we won) With the adrenaline still running through my veins i celebrate not because we won because i'm great full the guy didn't shoot or stab me. So i ask him does that always happen. He said "Yeah all the time but nobody usually fights they just run away , and go somewhere else.
Holy shit really i mean that guy looked like he wanted to fight. NO NO he just wanted to tell you to move to a different spot., but don't worry we won now we own it. We decided to make it our last stop and headed to my cousins bar for a cafe'. My friend still talking about the fight im thinking shit 35 euros bloody knuckles glue in my eyes , chance of getting arrested..
IS IT REALLY WORTH GIVING EVERY OPPORTUNITY A SHOT? WILL I CONTRADICT MY SELF AND START JUDGING AND ANALYZING EVERYTHING BEFORE I TRY IT......HECK NO!
ONE OF THE CRAZIEST EXPERIENCES IVE HAD ON FOREIGN SOIL YET!
AND I GOT PAID FOR IT!
