How do you recognize an Italian?

I love watching people. That is, I think it's interesting to observe how people from different cultures behave in certain situations and I always try guessing what country they're from.

If you are out eating there are som signs to look for to determine if the people in the restaurant are Italian or not. Of course, you can always try listening to the language they're speaking to try to find out their origins, but other than that there are certain things to look for.  

An Italian is the one who:

- blow his nose at the table. (For a Norwegian this is really a disgusting thing to do....)

- uses a ridiculous number of napkins to wipe hands and face when he's eating because of the olive oil in the food. And in the unlikely event that a napkin is not available in the exact right moment he will make use of the tablecloth...

- puts the bread directly onto the tablecloth and not on a plate. And then the bread is torn into small pieces and used for picking up the pasta sauce, which make the table look like a "war zone" of bread crumbs.

- is ordering and eating pasta, potatoes, vegetables, meat and salad separately; one course after another and not like the Norwegians; everything put onto the same plate and made into a single course. 

- is drinking an espresso after his dinner;  never a cappuccino like some Norwegians tend to do...

 

 

If you're out driving you will find that the Italians are:

- not using seat belts. If I'm a passenger in a car with only Italians I'm always the only one using the seat belt, even in the back seat! And this is always commented on by the Italians. I'm sure they think I'm a bit weird or maybe they think I'm afraid because of the way they're driving and therefore need to strap myself in...

- talking on handheld cell phones all the time. And the police who are out on the road to prevent this don't even notice it; they're to busy talking on the cell phone themselves...
 
- reading the newspaper in the queue on the autostrada

- shaving in the queue on the autostrada

- throwing the trash out the car window. Water bottles, sigarettes, ice cream paper etc, everything is thrown out the window.

- stopping wherever and whenever it suits them to drop off or take on passengers - and the strange thing is that no one seems to mind....

- double and triple parking in places where there really are no space for parking - nor is it allowed - not even for the first car that parked there ...


These are just some of the things you can look for to determine if the person is Italian or not and I suggest you try it out the next time you happen to be in Italy...