Our good friend and business associate, Corrado Natali, has entertained us at many lunches and dinners in Italy with his jokes. His humor, his timing and of course his impersonations can’t be captured in the written word, but each month we will share one of our favorites with you.

An American arrives in Fiumicino, Rome’s international airport. He catches a cab to go into town. Once inside Rome, the tourist starts admiring all the great statues and monuments. Suddenly impressed by one of them and not knowing what it was, he taps on the driver’s shoulder to inquire about it.The driver suddenly jumps, loses control of the car and slams on the brakes. The cab spins around until it ends up going through the window of a store. Alive and uninjured, they both catch their breath. The taxi driver then turns around and says “Don’t you ever do that again, you scared me to death!” The man replies “Sorry, I didn’t think that a simple tap on the shoulder would scare you so much.” The driver apologizes, “No, it’s not your fault. This is my first day on the job. For the past 35 years I’ve been driving a hearse.”