A Big Generalization

I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD and make a big generalization, then I’ll attempt to justify it, but it’ll still be a ridiculous claim. I think that overall, Italians appreciate and enjoy life more than Americans do. It just seems to me that every thing is a little more relaxed here. Everyone runs on “Italian time”, which means it’s okay to be up to a half an hour late. Even businesses seem to open and close pretty inconsistantly. L’Angolo pizza shop has a hand-written sign in their window promising that they will reopen each day after pausa at 4:30pm. However, I have been there at 4:30 several times and rarely does that seem to be the case. They sometimes open their doors at 4:45 or sometimes even later. Work is not their main concern here. Whereas, in America, all anyone seems to be focused on is making money.

Actually, nothing here seems to ever be rushed. The only time Italians ever seem to be in a hurry is when they’re driving. This makes absolutely no sense to me. It seems to contradict everything else I’ve observed about their culture. I guess maybe they just like driving fast. I probably would drive fast just for fun too if I knew there weren’t any police around that cared about giving out speeding tickets.

But anyway, that’s my observation. Italians are generally more laid back and happy. Their main concern is enjoying life rather than rushing through it to get ahead. […] So maybe that’s a really broad assumption to make, but that’s what I’ve been observing about the culture here pretty consistently as of late… is this displaying a tendency to evaluate?

-Katie Koepfinger