ITALIAN WHINES

Well, I guess this is shaping up to be a fine argument, so I won’t be the one to break an old Italian tradition.

Mark Piscitelli, can you read English (Calendar Letters, June 22)? Yes I know that “La Tarantella” is the spider dance , but the word does not mean “the spider,” as was printed. And has Naples declared itself an independent kingdom with its own language and dictionary? If so, mia culpa .

Oh, and thanks for offering to send me the wine--but make it Californian, OK? Without methanol.

Michael Falotico (Calendar Letters, June 22), who are you kidding? When you find an Italian car that spends more time on the road than in the shop, let me know. They’ll make it a national holiday over there.

Did you actually try to get a phone hooked up, papers processed, a drain unplugged or a heater fixed in Italy? Or did you just play the awed Italo-Americano marveling at everything Italian? The banks, the medical system the police, the post office (I’ll never bitch about ours again!), it would take me hours to explain my comment about Italian incompetence (Calendar Letters, June 15).

It’s not “backbiting” that hurts Italians (or any group), it’s not being able to criticize the things that are wrong, and this stupid, blind pride that Italians seem to be so good at. So get off your red, white, and green pedestal. You’ll get no apology from me--only the truth.

LAHNEEN GALLO

Ontario