Well, yesterday was not only Leap Day but PayDay!!!
So, off I went to the LYS...
I indulged in some Handmaiden Lace Silk and Fiddlesticks merino/silk blend. Also, this lace design book which will help me become a world-famous lace designer, quit my job and go on world tours. Hmmm.
In that regard, I'm looking very forward to going to Italy, particularly after this recent appeal court ruling:
I suspect that this wasn't the sort of trial that the cartoon below was meant to address:
In a landmark judgement with far-reaching social implications, Italy's highest appeals court has ruled it is a criminal offence for Italian men to touch their genitals in public.
The judges of the court of cassation stressed that the ban did not just apply to brazen crotch-scratching, but also to what might be termed superstitious pre-emption. Anyone who has seen a hearse go past in Italy, or been part of a discussion in which some terrible illness or disaster is mentioned, will know it is traditional for men to ward off bad luck with a quick grab at what are delicately called their "attributi".
The practice has become increasingly frowned on, but "io mi tocco i … ", which translates as "I touch my … " is still a common phrase, roughly equivalent to "fingers crossed". The judges helpfully suggested that those seeking reassurance should wait till they had returned to the privacy of their own homes before letting their hands stray trouser-wards.
The court was ruling on the appeal of an unnamed 42-year-old workman from Como near Milan. In May 2006, he was convicted of indecent behaviour for "ostentatiously touching his genitals through his clothing". His lawyer said it was merely a "compulsive, involuntarily movement, probably to adjust his overalls".
The third penal division of the Rome court was having none of it. It said that public genital-patting "has to be regarded as an act contrary to public decency, a concept including that nexus of socio-ethical behavioural rules requiring everyone to abstain from conduct potentially offensive to collectively-held feelings of decorum".
The judges said such actions risked generating "awkwardness, disgust and disapproval in the average man", unexpectedly perhaps failing to mention the average woman.
The workman was ordered to pay a €200 fine and €1000 costs.
Luckily for me, as a lawyer I never, ever have to sit through jury service - in Canada, anyone who has been to law school is exempted. Why? Because we're not considered "peers"... as in "a jury of one's peers". Lawyers are so special.
Happy Saturday! Today I'm heading out to the local knit cafe to meet Wannietta! Shall have to take the camera...
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