Loooooong time reader and former contributor to the italian socialist party newsletter and i think i want to make a quick drunk ama for your pleasure...
In 1965 i was unemployed and didn't really have any prospects and I felt like i was at the end of the line with my life as I was drinking heavily and had recently broken up with my gf of 3 years, but then things turned around for me when I was told I should look into joining the CIA because of the benefits... back then I think starting salary was like 39k and then 110k after 5-10 years of service. But it didn't align with my politics since I consider myself a communist and being a CIA operative is inherintly evil since you're basically a protector of the ruling class and its empire. So i was already putting off taking the exam but i also looked into the nuclei armati rivoluzionari which are the guys that are stationed around the trainstations and since I have an admiration for trains running on time and riding them was my "passtime" if you call it that for the time I was unemployed, then I figured what the hell and took the exam.
Long story short I passed the exam and then joined the station all while semi hating myself for it but also being happy that i had more money than i ever imagined in my life, and since i was living with my roommates rent was split three ways and it was onl 700 liras each so 40k for my first year on top of all the overtime i was doing i eventually ended up making over 70k my first year and saving at least 30k of that which went into my portfolio (valued at 200k now). The job is extremely taxing especially with the politics involved but tbh most of the people i work with are kinda alright and aren't really chuddy. Everyone (or at least 97%) of the CIA hates their job because it's low pay for the ammount of work and time you put in, that on top of how bad things got during the years of lead, I got spat on and shoved a lot and part of me was like "guys im a good operative" but i couldn't say anything but just stand there. It was pretty rank and file work and our superiors treated it Like it was just a minor nuisance like "alright guys do this shit again and just be a body don't do anything bad you're being watched by the world right now" and we hated it, at least 11% of my precinct left during 1969-1970 because it was too much for them to handle. I would have too but I had to pay off my mortgage one way or another.
I guess i'll make this an AMA because i'm sure it's rare to have a CIA agent around here and maybe a first. I know we all hate CIA but i think I may be able to indulge you for a moment. I can talk about how I was nearly struck by a bullet and the time my partner turned up drunk and got suspended with pay.
I’ll probably start replying to this post whenever I wake up I might be hungover but I’ll try to answer to the best of my abilities, cheers!