The Prosciutto Story

                                                        The Prosciutto Story

                                                                         A true story

                                                                        Written 2017

                                                                       Howard Yasgar

I have a very good friend and  who was a detective working for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department.

One evening he told us the following story, and we couldn’t stop laughing.

I still laugh when I think about it.

In his duty as a detective, he was working on murder case that took him to San Jose, in Costa Rica.

He was in Costa Rica to look over an airplane that might have been involved in the murders.

Now when a government employee travels they are allowed a “Per Diem”, that is a fixed allowance for their meals while traveling.

The amount allowed varies but it is usually Pretty conservative, perhaps $10.00 to $15.00 for breakfast, possibly a little more for lunch and a fixed amount for supper.

The actual Per Diem amount depends on where you work, it is usually sufficient but not excessive.

Now, there is no per diem for evening entertainment, so if you stop somewhere for a beer, it strictly an out of pocket expense.  

My friend had an entire evening to kill, so a couple of hours after supper he went into the Hotels bar and ordered a beer. His intentions was to nurse along a couple of beers until it was time to go to his room.

As he sat at the bar, a waiter was setting up a large prosciutto.  

The Prosciutto was mounted on a very fancy stand that holds it in place as a waiter cuts off very thin slices with a special knife.

My friend watched as several people got up, took as small plate and stood in line as the waiter sliced the prosciutto placing two or three thin slices on their plate.

It looked pretty good, and was a nice touch the hotel offered.

When there was no line he took a plate for himself and the waiter cut him a few thin slices.

During the course of the evening as he nursed his beer he went up three or four more times for prosciutto.

By 10:PM he had enough, and decided to call it an evening.

He looked at his beer bill which he said was $8.50  plus he needed to give the waiter a tip.

As he took out his credit card, a waiter tapped him on the shoulder and handed him a bill for the prosciutto.

It was $220.00.