Yesterday evening, after dinner, I went to a friend’s house to play cards. Nothing unusual in that, since our get-togethers happen quite frequently, especially during the winter months.

But yesterday evening was different.

At 10 o’clock (Italian time), the 2012 London Olympics began. The opening ceremony.

An amazing show…unbelievably elaborate…can’t imagine how much it would have cost…

But, for the most part, my friends and I didn’t stop playing. We watched TV when it wasn’t our turn…and simply listened to what was happening when it was…

We did stop playing here and there. For example, when “James Bond” (Daniel Craig) went to Buckingham Palace to escort the Queen to a helicopter from which they both parachuted into the opening ceremony (well, that’s what it was meant to look like…The Queen didn’t actually jump out of the helicopter…). See here (my previous link stopped working–video removed by user–try this one): http://goo.gl/quzDf. That was fun.

We also stopped playing when the Italian athletes appeared on the scene…very smart-looking in their Giorgio Armani suits. Hey, looking good, Italy! Valentina…Federica…FORZA!!!

And then…

“What’s that???” one of my friends gasped. 

It was a close call, let me tell ya. I mean, the four of us ALMOST DIED LAUGHING. No, really. We did. This is what we saw, in a flash…

An Italian athlete held up a hand-printed sign (see photo) that read:

“Mamma, sono qui.”

That means: 

“Mom, I’m here.” 

🙂