Something just happened to me that made me so angry I just had to share it.... Driving along a very busy road, where the traffic was so awful that the police were having to direct it despite the fully-functioning traffic lights, I was waved up to the white line by a member of the local police. He then - I thought - began directing the car next to me. A few seconds later I discovered he was actually telling me to pull up further, so I waved in a 'Sorry' way, and his response was "I SAID UP TO HERE!!". As I pulled forward he glared at me really rudely and VERY sarcastically shouted "brava", as in "well done, finally you understood, you dumb idiot". I have to say I'm not all that surprised, as people here in Milan are rude all of the time - but from a member of the police force?? I feel extremely angry that someone in a position of authority should speak to a law-abiding member of the public in such a disrespectful way. If these are the examples being set forward, it is no wonder there is so little respect for others in the community here. Where I come from in England there may be plenty of other issues that need dealing with, but at least the police address citizens as 'Sir' and 'Madam'. Discuss!!
So what you really mean is "Madam, well done..." Sorry couldn't resist! Surely you can't mean you've never met a sarcastic policeman in the UK?!
So far I've not had this problem, if anything the police in Florence seem to have a reasonable sense of humour, if the way they deal with the fake bag sellers is anything to go by! They stroll along slowly, giving them plenty of time to get away. Life must be too short to deal with them properly - can you imagine the paperwork!
To be honest, I've always found the UK police to be very respectful. According to my colleagues here, the 'polizia municipale' - yesterday's clown was one of them - are the least professional of the police forces. They also have the least responsibility and authority!!! The uniform must go to their heads...
I recently spent two days in Milan and all the Milanesi I asked for directions (I got lost a lot!) were very helpful and polite The only exception being a woman in the tourist office who was very rude and sarcastic - one of her colleagues ended up apologizing for her!!!
Yes there are police who act like jerks. This is not limited to Italy but yesterday was also a horrendous day for the police due to the strike and the fact that they were havingto do extra work (escorting gas trucks to stations because people were fighting etc.) So my advice is take it with a grain of salt and hopefully the next time you get stopped for a document check you will get a nicer one.
Cristina
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Generally speaking, though, in Italy anyone who wears a uniform, not just police people, often also wears a coat of arrogance. And not only those in a uniform. We italians say that the juniform gets to their head, some of those just forget that the fact that since by law they are supposed to make laws respected, they also have the right to treat anyone else like that. And, as I was saying, this arrogance is not only from those who wear a uniform: in the very moment they are entrusted with any authority, Italians (at least some of us, unfortunately it seems those that are most likely to get to this kind of behavior) just seem to have turned into gods. Last saturday I had a fight with a security guard at my local Esselunga supermarket that had presumed that tapping my left side (almost under the arm), as I was waiting for check out, while standing at my right was the right way to tell me that I had my bag open. Pity that it wasn't my bag, just my shopping bag, and my bag was sage and closed in front of me, and when I made it known to him, as well as telling me that he could have used a more elegant and respectful way of telling me, he replied "Guardi che chiamo la polizia". What for?! Maybe because I had asked him for apologies for his rudeness?
If sarcastic cops are my biggest concerns when driving in Italy, works for me. Beats the whole DWB (driving while black) stuff my brother and dad have to deal with here.
While trying to cross 5th Avenue to get into Central Park on my rollerblades, I was shoved by an NYPD officer and promptly fell on my butt. OK, so I was crossing the street on a parade day and I had gone around the barriers (nobody was coming - the floats were still 50 blocks away!), but I still found that appalling. There are bad cops everywhere. But I DO feel your pain on the driving in Milan thing. I hate it and avoid it whenever possible. Especially this time of year with all of the added holiday traffic and with everyone having put his motorbike away for the winter and taking the car instead. Michelle
Big car small....gosh we all get road rage so easily nowadays, in London you get honked at all the time for the slightest misdemeanor. Must say the italian drivers have been so polite compared to English drivers (bar Naples), I find it amusing the way they pull over randomly and chat to friends and NO-ONE beeps, This happened to me recently, so proud I feel totally italian now
Posts: 4 | Location (City & State): London | Registered: 17 December 2007
Must say the italian drivers have been so polite compared to English drivers
In that case we must live in two different 'Italy's!!! I have been driving here for five years and people still manage to shock me on a daily basis with their sheer lack of respect for other road-users and pedestrians alike! In England, people let you pull out. Here, (almost) NEVER!!!
Posts: 34 | Location (City & State): Milano | Registered: 12 September 2007
Originally posted by Bill 2: If a pedestrian is in the crosswalk the cars stop.
Make that Milan, Naples and Rome (and probably every other decent sized city in Italy!) Here in Rome, a car will only stop at a zebra crossing if you physically put yourself in front of the wheels. And even then a scooter will often zoom to overtake the car almost running you over (and, as happenned to me last night, cursing me for having the audacity to try to cross the street at a zebra crossing!)
Yes, in my experience living in Rome (at least in EUR where I was)the cars actually speed up when they see you at a zebra crossing in an attempt to get past you before they are forced to stop!
Well London, Milano, Roma and Napoli are all big cities and I think people get a bit annoyed easier still I havent been threatened with a crow bar for not pulling over or run over on a pavement by a bike in Italy yet....like I have in England thats all I'm saying. I like driving in the countryside in Italy, lovely clear roads but wouldnt dream of driving in any big city in italy.
Posts: 4 | Location (City & State): London | Registered: 17 December 2007
No offense, but I don't live in a big city, and there is an overabundance of rabid drivers here...I know several people who have been hit by vehicles - one left paralyzed after being hit by a truck (while riding a bike), and my 80 year old neighbor who was hit by a car crossing the street in front of my house. Every morning between 8:30 and 9am there is constant horn-blowing by impatient drivers at the streetlight...Ride your bike on over to this small town and you'll see for yourself that crazy doesn't just exist in a big city.
Posts: 744 | Location (City & State): latina italy | Registered: 06 November 2006
Bill - everyone here says that in the far north of Italy people are more "Swiss." They mean that in a negative way but it sounds pretty good to me if it means that people don't drive through red lights and attempt to run people over at pedestrian crossings!
Just had a lovely experience on the way home. As usual a bunch of horn tooting cars were stopped over the zebra crossing. They were so close together that even though they were stopped I couldn't physically get through. So I indicated to the driver who was completely blocking the crossing that he should move and said "how am I supposed to cross the street?" He said "well, princess... Don't like walking on earth, eh?" Ummm...wanting to be able to cross the street at a pedestrian crossing doesn't make me some kind of princess.
Really wondering how people with children in strollers or in wheelchairs manage it in Rome.
Originally posted by Ramona: Make that Milan, Naples and Rome (and probably every other decent sized city in Italy!) Here in Rome, a car will only stop at a zebra crossing if you physically put yourself in front of the wheels. And even then a scooter will often zoom to overtake the car almost running you over (and, as happenned to me last night, cursing me for having the audacity to try to cross the street at a zebra crossing!)
I was in Rome last friday, in the first outskirts (Pietralata) and I must say things are a little better. I was surprised to see cars stopping at a pedestrian cross way before I was in front of them. Well, that's a little something. In compenso, I waited 30 minutes for a bus. I asked a young lady with me at the stop: "ma non ci sono le tabelle con gli orari qui?" "don't you have timetables, here?" She laughed,said something about my accent and asked me where I was thinking to be, and whether did I live on the moon ! Chia
Originally posted by Ramona: So I indicated to the driver who was completely blocking the crossing that he should move and said "how am I supposed to cross the street?" He said "well, princess... Don't like walking on earth, eh?"
My favorite reply, in such a common case (up here too) is to start walking over HIS HOOD!
People do stop here alright, but I guess there are often so many tourists in such a small place that those who drive in the city centre are used to it. I was sneakily trying to scooch through the red lights where there was a zebra crossing (at a snails pace I might add) on my bike the other day and was quickly rapped on the arm by a very indignant old lady and promptly told that 'c'e il verde', that put me in my place.... :P
I won't hear anything bad said about the Italian police! A week ago someone took my wallet from my pocket in a bar in central Rome - 2 credit cards, bancomat, UK bank card, codice fiscale, tessera sanitaria, driving licence, Italian ID - in short everything and EU100 cash. I didn't sleep all night wondering if I had left it in the office etc etc. Next morning I was making out a list of what I’d lost whilst I waited for my secretary to get to the office to check if it was there (I wasn't sure it had been stolen at this point). The phone rang and a Polizia municipale told me that he had found my wallet at the junction of Via del Corso and Via Condotti (12 hours after it went missing - on a Friday night). He had seen my name in the driving licence, looked me up in the phone book and called me on his personal cellular phone. You can imaging how relieved I was. I was ready
Expats in Italy Forum 
Sorry couldn't resist! Surely you can't mean you've never met a sarcastic policeman in the UK?!
The only exception being a woman in the tourist office who was very rude and sarcastic - one of her colleagues ended up apologizing for her!!!
