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1 + 1 = 1
Sex In The Italian Cities -- Part 2
Someone once said that two halves create a whole. A "whole" lot of problems?  A black "hole"?  What was that "someone" referring to when he/she said that two halves create a whole?  Obviously they weren't referring to this mathematical equation in regards to two people sharing their lives together.

In my expert opinion - the "expert" that has never been married, divorced or in a really, really serious relationship - it seems to me that the older I get, the more I realize that in order to avoid dating disaster, the two participating parties have to both be "whole" in order to avoid the "hole". Stumbling onto this realization has probed the question. When do we really know when we've become so complete as people that we are mature enough to share our personal problems with someone else's personal problems and combine them into something called A RELATIONSHIP?

Of course everyone has a different moment in their lives when they realize they have made it to the top of their personal growth pyramid. In the United States most of us leave the nest, otherwise known as the monetary/physical comfort of the parents' home, at the age of 18 to go to college. Unfortunately, or fortunately, we never return home to live in the nest again. In Italy.well, some may NEVER really leave the nest.

I believe that leaving the parents' home at age 18 forces Americans to grow up, although a typical Italian would probably consider this idea of independence premature and absurd. Italians seem to value family life and find it far more comfortable to live in the "womb" a little longer. Nearly 20 YEARS longer.

After asking the typical Italian why they can't seem to leave the home, the response is similar to that of a broken record. "It is far too expensive to leave the parents' home. Living with my parents I don't have to pay rent, and I can spend my own money for my own pleasure." or "My mother does everything for me. I don't have to cook, clean or do my wash. Why would I want to leave home?"

True, it would be nice to have a live in servant, but is this comfort level retarding the personal growth in the Italian culture and prolonging the Italians' "half-dom" stage? Or, on the contrary, are Americans simply too independent of their loved ones, entering the "whole" stage prematurely? When do we realize that we have completed the stage of "half-dom" and entered the "whole" stage?

Mathematically it may make more sense to say that a ½ + ½ = 1, but logically it makes far more sense to realize that, really and truly, 1+1=1. Sometimes things add up a little better when they really just don't add up!

Ciao, ciao for now!

PS - Congratulations to my newly engaged brother, Steve, and his fiancé, Katie. May your life together be filled with happiness and may you both prove my equation to be correct. The best things come to those who wait!