Wednesday, January 14, 2009

A small piece of home....


Here we are, in Houston, at the front door of the Italian General Consulate. For most people, a Consulate is a small thing, almost meaningless.

To me, however, it always "triggers" something when I go through those doors. I know that in there, there are people that speaks my language, have the same cultural background, and, that can help me, if needed.

I often got myself in troubles, with documents and deadlines. My own laziness and distraction got me often to the point of calling the Consulate and asking for a "rescue" with bureaucratic deadlines . I got to say, that in the last17 years, the Consulate in Houston, has always come through and did save me from my own stupidity, and they did it with kindness, efficiency, and competence.

Their record was a passport for one of my kids, issued "on the fly" in 20 minutes, as I was going to the airport, and the US passport was lost in the mail.

I know, there are many things in Italy that do not work, but I need to "give credit when credit is due" to the Consulate for doing what they do, and doing it well.


2 comments:

rob said...

Dev'essere proprio rassicurante sapere che un ufficio tanto importante sia efficiente.
Fa un certo effetto ammirare lo stemma della repubblica in un ufficio texano.
Non ti viene forse di scattare in piedi ed intonare l'inno di Mameli?
Ma forse a quel punto...altro che passaporto!
Ciao!

Bolina Stretta said...

L' Inno di Mameli forse e' meglio che non lo canto, visto come sono stonato, capace che mi arrestano per schiamazzi e disturbo della quite pubblica.

Mi ha fatto piacere che, ancora una volta, a dispetto di tutte le dicerie sulla inaffidabilita' degli uffici "statali" , il Consolato ha lavorato come si deve.