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The Pasta King Trusted Us
- me_me_me 6y agoWe need more stories like this. But more importantly more people like him.
- dvtrn 6y agoThere are quite probably a LOT of people like him, at least I choose to believe there are.
- spicymaki 6y agoThere are plenty of generous people out there. Unfortunately we spend most of our time idolizing greedy and selfish people. Kindness and generosity does not have high ratings.
- tomcam 6y agoI don’t know if this counts, but there is a place in Redmond, Washington that sells honey using roughly the same approach. They leave jars of honey worth up to $100 each on the shelf outside their barn wall with a locked cashbox and you just pay on the honor system.
- mtnGoat 6y agoi live in central washington, lots of fruit growers have unattended cash only fruit stands along the roads. its good for everyone; fresh as possible fruit for me, easy money for farmer. they usually have cameras and the community usually comes together to catch anyone screwing around.
- superkuh 6y agoIn the midwest this is done with corn stands.
- jelliclesfarm 6y agoa lot of small family farms have honor system. i used to let people come in for u-pick strawberries and fruit. also honey and during tomato season. until my insurance said that i cant do that and i will have to pay extra on the premium. even if i kept it hush hush, the homeless/drug addicts started moving in and trashing the place. it became a genuine liability risk. so i had to fence as much as i could and put up signs. didnt make a difference to the thieves. i have had a tractor, a trailer and multiple metal trellis systems and greenhouse building materials stolen anyways. but my honor system farm stand doesnt exist anymore. to even put up a farm stand, i have to get a special permit. the regulations are killing small farms.
- littleninja 6y agoBuy Nothing Project. If you want to practice opening your heart and focusing on what you have to give, I recommend this so much. (I lost touch when I deactivated my Facebook account but I’m happy to see they’re trying open source and a crowd funded social network called “soop”.) https://buynothingproject.org/about/ https://buynothingproject.org/about/
- rmk 6y agoIs this a cultural thing? I have noticed that people from Latin cultures are very generous, particularly with the hungry. I was at a small Mexican restaurant, waiting to order some takeout. Outside, on the pavement, there were a few diners enjoying their meals, including a Hispanic person who looked like he worked construction or some similar trade. A vagrant was passing by, and he slowed down, ever so slightly, at the sight and smell of the delicious foods inside. The diner quickly called out to the vagrant and said he should order something for himself; it would be paid for. It was a spontaneous act of charity from someone who was not too well off himself. It made quite an impression on me.
- Natsu 6y agoI've seen the same when visiting Brazil. It's more common to give the homeless food than money. Pai would go out to give someone food and a "fica com Deus" pretty regularly.
- secondcoming 6y agoIn London if you give some homeless people food they'll either throw it away or curse you out for not giving money.
- cpach 6y agoI’ve stopped offering food to beggars. These days I just ignore them.
- mFixman 6y agoBeggars are people. Have you tried asking them what food they want?
- freeflight 6y agoBeggars can't be choosers is a saying that exists for a reason. That's not to belittle people in dire situations, but people in actually dire situations are usually grateful for any and all assistance they get. Somebody who suddenly makes all kinds of demands of the "charity" they receive, just comes across as ungrateful and greedy.
- CameronNemo 6y ago>As a teenager in Italy drafted into Mussolini’s army, he escaped and joined the resistance forces as an underground freedom fighter, planting explosives on roads and railroads to thwart fascism’s spread across Europe. If the war had gone a bit different, this man might have gone down in history as a little-known terrorist. Makes me think how lucky I am to live in such peace. Not everyone in the world, or even my community, gets to experience that.
- idclip 6y agoLets be more like him
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- pwarner 6y agoIf you are in the area, there are other amazing old school Italian American experiences that are great. Two in Petaluma http://www.angelossmokehouse.com/ http://www.angelossmokehouse.com/ - the Past King's brother https://volpisristorante.com/ https://volpisristorante.com/ Plus some wineries, although those have lost some of their charm.
- jelliclesfarm 6y agoi second volpi. i drive through petaluma often because it's between my farm and orchard. so petaluma is often the break i need in the 2 hour drive. petaluma can be a tad twee these days..but still good food. you can tell ingredients are super fresh and local. also: della fottaria http://dellafattoria.com/ http://dellafattoria.com/ and petaluma creamery https://www.springhillcheese.com/ https://www.springhillcheese.com/ and my fav deli ray's delicatessen and tavern..https://www.rays-deli.com/history https://www.rays-deli.com/history ...local breweries too.
- minitoar 6y agolol angelo’s email is moregarlic@foo.com
- TRcontrarian 6y agoVolpi's has killer gnocchi to boot
- minitoar 6y agoGrew up in Sonoma County, love the pasta king. Whenever we go to the Sonoma County fair it’s a tradition to visit his permanent food stall, and get a massive plate of spaghetti to share. Also lost count of the number of charity dinners/lunches I went to catered by the Pasta King, more often than not Art himself was there.
- js2 6y agoThere used to be (I'm going back over twenty years) a roadside honor market off of NC 28 in the NC mountains. It was just a simple wood shack with honey, jams, chowchow, etc. You could take what you wanted and there was a slot to deposit your money. I was in Miami for Hurricane Andrew. A gas station near me, the attendant had to leave. They left the pumps on and a sign to leave cash. There was an article later in the Miami Herald that folks ended up leaving more than the amount of gas sold (this is from memory, I may not have the details correct). People are mostly trustworthy. If not, society would collapse. Yes, there are bad people. The trick is to not become cynical and more importantly, not to build a society that loses all compassion. Otherwise the bad people win.
- mikeg8 6y agoI live right around the corner from Art’s home and love stopping by to pickup a frozen lasagna or Pesto sauce. Although I only got to meet him a couple times, he always felt like a neighbor and grandfather figure. He served pasta at many of my high school fundraisers. RIP to a great man. It was really nice to see this tribute make its way over here on HN. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
- neilv 6y agoI was initially afraid to click that headline -- that it might be a story of betrayal. Fortunately, it was a nice warm-fuzzy story.
- Waterluvian 6y agoSomething this wonderful story doesn't touch on (and rightfully So, it doesn't fit the tone) is when people break his trust. I think it's relatively easy to be trusting. I think it's harder to remain trusting when it gets broken on occasion. That's the secret I want to learn about.
- TRcontrarian 6y agoI never paid for Pasta King pasta like that, but when I lived down the road from him my roommate slaughtered chickens and sold them with an identical honor system. People just left a @$20 bill on the kitchen table and took their chicken.