Italian parenthesis

The 3 weeks spent in northern Italy to follow up on some outstanding problems related to an inherited property went by slowly and I found them, I must confess, quite boring. Most of my activities revolve around getting things fixed, finding appropriate contacts for disposing of unwanted old furniture and objects, keeping house and paying taxes. Although service usually comes with a smile everywhere you go in Europe, scheduling it is quite a chore, and you must be prepared to face innumerable delays and an enormous waste of your time to finally get it.

I know that for some my above statement may sound surprising, but, believe me, I have actual experience on this subject dating back years. Italy is a vacation paradise, but normal life dealing with daily chores and problems in the country is no picnic. If you add dealings with state or government offices, you can actually have nightmarish experiences.

This applies also to other places in Europe. What is interesting is that when you speak to local people, who are well aware of the situation, they are quite resigned to this state of affairs, see no way out of it, and thus don’t even think about changing it. Their minds, however, works in other directions: counteract the problems, strictly for personal benefit, with any possible mean, lawfully or not. The result is that dealings are never straight forward or direct, but purposely convoluted; problems’ resolution never simple, but obtainable through circuitous and, a lot of times, devious habits. This way of living, in my estimate, is one of the greatest differences of life between the old and new continents across the Atlantic.