Police Cooked This Lonely Elderly Couple Pasta After They Were Heard Crying

[sheshe2]

A story about urban loneliness and an act of kindness.

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Last Tuesday police in Rome were called to a block of flats in the Appio area of the city after someone reported hearing crying and shouting.

Four officers attended the scene and found 84-year-old Jole and her 94-year-old husband Michele in their small flat. The elderly couple hadn’t committed a crime. Nor had burglars attempted to break in.

Jole and Michele had started to cry while watching television. The former had asked her husband why there was so much hate in the news that day and Jole had cried so loudly that someone in the building called the police.

The elderly couple, who have been married for nearly 70 years, felt lonely. It had been ages since someone had visited them, they told the officers.

On the kitchen table there were only some old grapes, and few signs of a recent proper meal. So as police waited for an ambulance to check in on the couple, one officer prepared a plate of pasta for Jole and Michele – a simple dish, spaghetti with butter and parmesan – while the other three officers sat down with the couple for a chat.

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Read More: https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertonardelli/police-cooked-this-lonely-elderly-couple-pasta-after-they-we?utm_term=.ic3qMPEqK#.ydmL9K4LN

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The comments, wonderful.

[Purveyor]

1. K&R Thanks for posting. eom

[bunnies]

2. Poking my head in just to rec this.

hi She.

[sheshe2]

3. Hey, bunnies.

Thanks. Good to see you.

[Boxerfan]

4. This totally makes up for all those "other"

I mean show a little ankle & viola!-eating from your hands....


Too bad it isn't reflective of reality-or how police are viewed by the public.

The PR problem is based on reality & till they totally overhaul policies & stop harassing citizens for fun & profit-F 'em..

[George II]

10. This happened in Italy.

[Skittles]

16. nice

do you stereotype all people this way? Cops in Italy?

[shenmue]

5. Water is coming out of my eyes all of a sudden

[sheshe2]

6. Same thing happened to me, shenmue.

[calimary]

7. Nice. Items like this help restore my faith.

[sheshe2]

8. Same here, calimary.

[Stuart G]

9. One of the best stories that I have read this year..wonderful. thanks ..nt

[sheshe2]

14. Thank you Stuart. Agreed.

[fleabiscuit]

11. Both heartbreaking and heartwarming. K&R

[mgardener]

12. Wouldn't this be a better world

If we all could do this for just one other person?

[Feeling the Bern]

13. See, American cops. . .you can do your job, carry guns and not be badge wearing thugs and murderers

Too bad things like this don't really happen here.

My black friends have this joke:

How many cops does it take to change a light bulb?
-- None. They just beat the room for being black.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

15. There *are* stories in the US about cops who are decent human beings.

They get posted here in fact, occasionally.

Unfortunately, when they get posted, sometimes people react badly.

[sheshe2]

17. Or don't react at all.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

21. Yep. CrappO Media, Inc. likes it that people are so predictable.

It's even a maxim: If it bleeds, it leads.


Oh well, maybe if we just keep practicing, it'll have a generally positive effect.

[Aristus]

18. ...

...that did it: I'm crying...

[sheshe2]

19. Yup, me too.

hugs~

[KamaAina]

20. To be known on menus forevermore as "spaghetti alla polizia"?

[BlancheSplanchnik]

22. ROFL!!

[sheshe2]

23. Ha~ Yup.

One of my favorite ways to eat spaghetti. Pasta, oil, parm.

[KamaAina]

30. I'll trade you the parm for some aglio.

Preferably from Gilroy, just south of here: the Garlic Capital of the World!

[sheshe2]

31. Sounds great!

[jtuck004]

24. Hundreds of millions just like them. Maybe we need pokemon go characters in people's homes. n/t

[sheshe2]

25. Many great ideas in the comments.

[niyad]

26. damn--it is dusty in here!!! thank you for sharing this. pity the neighbors have not

been as kind.

[keithbvadu2]

27. A few days ago, a story here about a guy who had no one to take him to surgery because he had no

friends.

Anyone got a link to that?

[sheshe2]

29. Here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028098271

[keithbvadu2]

45. Thanks.... It seemed to fit with this one.

[turbinetree]

28. That is what compassion and empathy is all about

[blueseas]

46. Exactly!

More empathy will make this a better world.

[Gothmog]

32. Great story

[sheshe2]

38. Done...

Thank you.

[brer cat]

36. Heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once.

Thanks for posting, sheshe.

[angrychair]

37. See if they had been "real" cops

They would have raided their home with a fully-loaded SWAT team and gunned down the old women for holding a butter knife "in a life threatening manner" and the old man for "reaching for his waistband".
You have to have guns, dominance and fear to control the population. These foreign cops just ruin it for all the "good" cops.

[dem in texas]

39. Food is Love

Making food for someone is an act of love. If you have a homebound or elderly neighbor who can't get around, make them a nice meal or favorite dish every once in a while. If you don't like to cook, take them some fresh fruit or offer to go to the store for them.

The couple in this story are so right, there is so much hate and meanness in the world; you can do a little bit to make it a better place

[StarzGuy]

40. It happens all to often in the US

I have lived alone for nearly all my adult life. I have never been married or had a live in girl friend.

Now that I have been disabled going on 6 years I can sympathize with this couple. I often find myself crying for being lonely. I've even woke up at night doing the same. It is no fun being disabled and not having any friends to visit.

I recently reconnected with a girl friend some 30 years ago. Unfortunately she lives in a different state. She has never married either. We do communicate using email and a weekly phone call. I plan on making a trip to see her again soon. I have already made this trip several times. She lives with her elderly parents and isn't free to drive the 5 or 6 hours to see me.

I wish things were different. When one gets on in age without a family it is difficult to want to continue to live. No one comes to visit, being in pain 24/7 365 and not really able to make ends meet on disability payments.

I cried when I first read this story. I hope this couple can manage to feel better real soon. I, on the otherhand will most likely never feel better again.

[sheshe2]

44. I am so sorry StarGuy.

I understand some of what you are going through. I am glad that you have connected to an old friend keep that up. It is good for you both.

Please remember that you have friends here as well, post here as much as you can. There is always someone on line.

Thank you for your response.

Peace~

[Bill USA]

41. great post. recommend, bookmarked

[Hamlette]

42. My story is just as good. . .

My 88 year old mother was driving home from the grocery store when she had a stroke. 4 firemen and an ambulance came. While two firemen went with my mom to the hospital, the other two had to move her car from the middle of the road. They noticed her purse and keys in the car, checked for her license, drove her car to her house and took her groceries inside and put them in the fridge. Then they took her keys and purse up to her in the hospital.

She didn't make it but the kindness of those people touched me. As does this story. Unsung heroes.

[sheshe2]

43. Unsung heros, they are.

So sorry your mom did not make, Hamlette.