Tourists are often taken aback by the bluntness with which Venetians answer questions and give directions. But I've learned something through all my years of being snapped at by Venetians: They will only try it when they believe there's hope for you yet.
Once, inside the Bacaro Risorto, I was actually cut off. Jacopo decided that I had had too much coffee and flat-out refused to serve me another espresso. Another time, at the MiTi Bar, I tried to order a white spritz but Federico shook his head at me and absolutely refused to pour one. And, lest you think that I'm just a caff-a-alcoholic, I had a similar experience at a small atelier near the Tolentini... I wanted to try on a dress but the shopkeeper wouldn't even let me take it off the rack. Plus, it seems like everywhere that I go, the same people who call me “beautiful darling” as lightly as air, later turn around and tell me definitively that they don't love me. :-(
What's going on here? Am I a nypho-caffa-alco-shop-aholic in serious need of rehabilitation? Or am I just your average anglo-saxon tourist who expects to be treated like the-customer-who-is-always-right even if it means that I waste money, get wired, drink bad liquor, wear stupid looking clothes and walk around making accidental sexual innuendos?
Hmm...let me think...
Jacopo lost money refusing to sell me coffee. Federico could easily have handed me a spritz full of the cheapest wine in town. That atelier probably could have sold me yet another piece of clothing that would hang in my closet never to see the light of day again. And, lets face it, everyone appreciates a dirty joke, even if the joke's on me. So...
What kind of people are overly blunt, critical, honest at the expense of their own interests and don't laugh when you say something stupid? My goodness! Veneziani! You are all beginning to remind me of my parents!
Which means that maybe, just maybe, you do in fact love me just a little! (“Love”, strictly in the non-sexual, “voglio bene” sense of the word, as it is commonly thrown about amongst us wired, drunken, foul-mouthed, anglo-saxon slobs, of course... ;-)
This also means that maybe, just maybe, those very same Venetians who strike my fellow anglo-saxon tourists as unforgivably rude are, in fact, the only Venetians who've really got your back a la Mom & Dad!
Once, inside the Bacaro Risorto, I was actually cut off. Jacopo decided that I had had too much coffee and flat-out refused to serve me another espresso. Another time, at the MiTi Bar, I tried to order a white spritz but Federico shook his head at me and absolutely refused to pour one. And, lest you think that I'm just a caff-a-alcoholic, I had a similar experience at a small atelier near the Tolentini... I wanted to try on a dress but the shopkeeper wouldn't even let me take it off the rack. Plus, it seems like everywhere that I go, the same people who call me “beautiful darling” as lightly as air, later turn around and tell me definitively that they don't love me. :-(
What's going on here? Am I a nypho-caffa-alco-shop-aholic in serious need of rehabilitation? Or am I just your average anglo-saxon tourist who expects to be treated like the-customer-who-is-always-right even if it means that I waste money, get wired, drink bad liquor, wear stupid looking clothes and walk around making accidental sexual innuendos?
Hmm...let me think...
Jacopo lost money refusing to sell me coffee. Federico could easily have handed me a spritz full of the cheapest wine in town. That atelier probably could have sold me yet another piece of clothing that would hang in my closet never to see the light of day again. And, lets face it, everyone appreciates a dirty joke, even if the joke's on me. So...
What kind of people are overly blunt, critical, honest at the expense of their own interests and don't laugh when you say something stupid? My goodness! Veneziani! You are all beginning to remind me of my parents!
Which means that maybe, just maybe, you do in fact love me just a little! (“Love”, strictly in the non-sexual, “voglio bene” sense of the word, as it is commonly thrown about amongst us wired, drunken, foul-mouthed, anglo-saxon slobs, of course... ;-)
This also means that maybe, just maybe, those very same Venetians who strike my fellow anglo-saxon tourists as unforgivably rude are, in fact, the only Venetians who've really got your back a la Mom & Dad!
And, as you can see, sometimes there is just no room for anyone else to row around acting silly!
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