"Italians are the most sensitive and tolerant people"

This was CJ's quote to me last night at about midnight as we were listening to VERY loud music pouring through the ceiling from the apartment above us. We would have paid even more attention but for the fact that we hear a lot of noise - at all hours of the day and night - from our neighbors. Walking around in heels at 1:00 a.m. or vacuuming at 11:30 p.m. is apparently very normal behavior for these folks. The funny thing though is that we've deduced that this is normal for Italian living.

Everyone lives in tight quarters, and you have to learn to deal with the noises, inconveniences and/or lack of privacy that come with this. Similarly they deal with the motorscooters/motorcycles cutting off cars and pedestrians jaywalking around every corner without much complaint. For these and many other reasons, Italians must be a tolerant people.

On the other hand, they can be quite sensitive. If you do happen to do something that crosses their view of what is acceptable, you see just how sensitive folks can be. We've come across many a shouting match between drivers. And once I was even the recipient of a tirade about walking in the road with the stroller (of course the sidewalk was torn up and the road was easier) when a driver had to deal with going around me. I also previously posted an entry about customers behind us in the grocery store complaining when I was buying more than 5 items at a time and slowing down their check out process. Similarly, store clerks are fussy if you don't have correct change for your order - or the proper amount of euros or cents to at least round off the change they are to give you back. Most of the time this sensitivity (and the resultant behavior) is amusing. And if nothing else, it reminds us that there are limits to the tolerance of Italians.