Lemons, the Mob and Tokyo Credit Cards
In the 1700s, the Royal Navy was fighting its worst foe ever - scurvy. The disease, a simple vitamin C deficiency, killed sailors by the hundreds and devastated HM’s most important foreign policy weapon. Enter James Lind, a Scottish doctor, who realized lemon juice corrected the problem, restoring the crews to health. This in turn proved an economic boon for the island of Sicily, which, by the late 1800s exported more than 2.5 million cases of lemons to New York alone. But now Sicily had its own battle to fight - gangs of criminals stealing lemons. An army of private guards arose to protect the crops and get paid by the land owners - the Mafia. At first, the word had a positive meaning, somebody who stood up for the common man. I got to thinking about all this because last evening my preprandial cocktail included Sicilian Lemonade - and then I remembered my problem with the Japanese Mob.