In spite of all t
he progress still there are times when bathrooms are difficult to find. When a group of girlfriends as houseguests complained one evening, I surprised them at breakfast by replacing the usual cloth napkin with their own “depends” to be used. This initiated a chorus of laughter but they all reassured me they would not use them and certainly not need them at their age. They were all in their mid -60’s, believing that they would not be so desperate to find facilities as one might be at the age of 70 or older. After breakfast we started off for our sightseeing day beginning with the Tuscany medieval town of San Gimignano.
In the car I jokingly told them that I was wearing my “depend” and they laughed along with me. About an hour after viewing the city of towers, the morning coffee had its effect. On the Chianti trail without any facilities in view I was asked to stop at a service station which unfortunately had a unforgiving sign explaining, the rest rooms were” out of order.” I reprimanded the disappointed ladies for not wearing their “depends,” reminding them that I felt fortunate to be wearing mine. That was all that was needed as their brains suddenly in unison signaled to their bodies the immediate need for bathroom facilities. I will discontinue the story here so as not to embarrass anyone that was present that day. Sufficient to say, the next morning I had 5 ladies asking me for their own “depends” before venturing out to the hilltop village of San Miniato for a truffle hunt with the truffle dogs.
