Today I told a young lady thinking of coming to live in Italy that it's not all gelatos and piazzas. A lot of living in Italy is aggravation generated by the incredible multitude of little things that Italians do that drive Anglos utterly and completely screaming-at-invisible-people insane.
One of the big ones is the thing they have about walking five abreast on the sidewalk at that pace usually performed by soldiers at state funerals, or stopping entirely to stand and think about life. They don't get out of your way when you are walking up to them either. Ten of them, standing around the door of the coffee bar smoking and chewing the fat. They see you coming. They can't miss you. But, where in all the
And I'm someone who thinks Torontonians walk too slow...
GAH!
~
lol, I remember crossing the border into Gibraltar and feeling like WEEPING TEARS OF JOY when an English person made eyecontact with me and we navigated around each other on the narrow sidewalk. Then I went back to Spain and probably punched some people in the face.
ReplyDeletesorry that was me! - Karen
ReplyDeleteI was pushing someone in a wheelchair at Lourdes. The Frogs just wouldn't move out of our way.
ReplyDeleteUntil I yelled "Permesso" in my best Italian accent. Should have seen them scatter!
I guess the Frogs knew that an Italian would out-do them in the lack of politesse.