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Reporter's Notebook: Italians Deal With 'Non Toccare' - No Touching

Jamie Dettmer

   "Lemon trees, like Italians, seem to be happiest when they are touching
   one another," wrote British novelist D.H. Lawrence in his travelogue,
   "Sea and Sardinia." The lemon trees are still touching, but now the
   unspoken rule for people is non toccare (no touching).

   This month, many Italians started pulling off mesh and plastic covers
   from their lemon trees, no longer worried that they need insulation
   from frost -- a collective unveiling marking the end of winter and
   traditionally preluding warm sun and glorious Mediterranean summer days
   ahead.

   But other traditions have been banished by the coronavirus, and the
   Italian government's desperate bid to counter its spread, from no
   touching to no hugging and absolutely no demonstrative light cheek
   kissing, otherwise known as il bacetto.

   Another unusual sight is to see Italians taking their place orderly in
   line.

   To enter food stores Italians are standing the required one meter
   apart, and all this standing in line is without the usual feints and
   excuses to jump ahead.

   'Stay at home'

   When Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced Monday his restrictive
   "stay-at-home" measures to halt the transmission of the virus, an
   Italian neighbor confided to me her doubts that it would work as
   "unfortunately the Italians are very unruly and indisciplined."

   That so far has turned out not to be the case.

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