Don Guanella particularly loved, among the guests of his houses, those peaceful crackers whom he called "good sons" and he showed them special attention. In fact, when he had some time, he would go looking for them: he would talk to them, joke and play a few card games. Before meeting them, however, he made sure he had a good supply of candies, sweets, biscuits and a few cigars in his pocket.
He often stopped for this supply from a tobacconist in via Dante, in Como, who knew him and who knew who all that stuff was intended for.
It happened once that the tobacconist hired help, a young man from outside who saw Don Guanella appear in front of him for the first time with an imposing order. This big priest, with a dreamy and absorbed air, his eyes half closed and a good voice, was ordering him with the utmost naturalness: a dozen half Tuscans, five Virginia cigars, the ones with the straw inside, three packets of and five of mince, a couple of kilos of candies, half a kilo of mints, biscuits...
The goods were piling up on the counter and Don Guanella did not notice the astonishment of the tobacconist who looked at him with a kind of aversion; on the contrary, calculating how much he needed and calculating what went to one and what went to the other, he took on more and more of the air of the pleasure-seeker who didn't want to forget anything, promising himself to spend an evening properly.
Finally the young man behind the counter could not help himself and said:
- What a fireplace and what a gargarozzo!
Don Guanella roused himself and, while he was paying the bill of nine lire, he realized the misunderstanding he had involuntarily caused and wanted to remove that boy from his doubts. Almost apologetically and with some embarrassment, which the other interpreted again wrongly, he said:
— They are not for me, they are for my good children!
In saying this, he left the poor fellow stunned without knowing if he was dreaming or if he was awake. It is said that the matter was then explained to him, but for that evening he was a little bewildered.