Contrary to Popular Opinion

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January 16, 2008· Filed Under Italy 

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I know a lot of Italians from down south. You know, that area of Italy where the people tend to have a bit of a reputation for being a little work shy. One of those ’stereotype’ situations, if ever there was one.

All of the southern Italians I know are pretty hard working individuals and many are ambitious as well. These guys and gals are only really up here in Milan because they cannot find work down in the south. However, I’m sure if you head off down to Bari, Catania and the other places lying around the heel of Italy’s boot, you will find that there is no absence of young people, and many of these individuals will be working.

It’s not so much the southern Italian mentality down in south Italy as the political mis-management and the, er, ‘influence’ of certain other organisations. And, as an side, it has to be said, that these here ‘certain other organisations’ are much better organised than that mother of all Italian organisations: the government. Or so it would appear.

Anyway, I digress, the point I’m attempting to make is that down in the south of Italy, the problem is not so much that of lazy people, as a lack of opportunities. And before someone points this out, I’m aware that the speed with which things are done down south is rather slower than here up in the north. This is another reason why the more ambitious southerners who cannot carve out a niche down south, come up north.

By way of example, my friend and partner in the sausage thing, Gaetano Salvo, who hails from the south, is the last person you could call work shy or lazy, I can tell you.

Potential employers take note: southern Italians can potentially make more willing employees than those from the north of the country.  They are lovely people too.

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Comments

5 Responses to “Contrary to Popular Opinion”

  1. Gege' Bau said on January 16th, 2008 3:50 pm

    Like we’ve said before, the “southern problem” is such a complicated one. It has to do with political and economic corruption and manipulation, with a smattering of racism thrown in for fun. Remember Massimo Troisi, impersonating a disingenuous Milanese explaining the situation to a southerner… “Non e’ che noi siamo razzisiti, siete VOI che siete terroni!”

    Ever wonder why AlfaSud and Italsider were closed? Me too… looks like some people just don’t want the South to succeed.

  2. AlexR said on January 16th, 2008 4:22 pm

    Yep, one could go on for hours about the north south thing in Italy. Only one thing is certain: it’s one heck of a mess.

    As for why AlfSud and Italsider went down the tube, well, I imagine that the operations risked becoming so complex that a disastrous backfire was predicted, so somebody decided to call it a day before things became to hot, or something like that.

    Although others do not want the south to move forward, I do believe that there are those in the south who do wish to see some change.

    But, with all the problems, and Italy’s reputation for blocking most forms of change, nothing is going to happen overnight.

    Unless of course the Austrians decided to repeat a little history and have a go at taking over Italy again!!

  3. Di said on January 17th, 2008 12:00 am

    Intriguing, even this has shades of Belgium about it …

    Wallonia is the ’south’ of Belgium, and while it used to support Belgium with it’s coal industry, it’s now the place whispered about as having 3rd generation unemployed people who ‘don’t want to work’.

    Meanwhile, I’m intrigued. It’s beautiful down that way and there’s lots of space, let’s see if it isn’t the place where tourism really takes off again in the future.

    We joked about cutting the cable between the north and south islands of New Zealand - the South Island supplying the North with most of the power but at the end of the day, we realised we’re all simply New Zealanders …

    I think football has a lot to answer for. Rugby isn’t as divisive.

  4. AlexR said on January 17th, 2008 12:34 am

    Hi Di,
    In the UK, it used to be the north that was the downtrodden ex-mining area.

    For some reason, most countries appear to have a north/south divide. Why it is not an east/west divide, I don’t know. Very odd.

    As for the south of Italy and tourism, you are right, the potential has not been fully exploited. Mainly due to appallingly bad management and the influence of Italy’s infamous NGOs.

    As for football and rugby, I cannot explain why football matches are violent, whereas rugby matches are not. My dad, who is a bit of a snob, says it is a class thing - the working classes are more violent than the middle classes who watch football. Trouble is, you come to Italy and this just does not hold true. All levels of Italian society are besotted with the ‘beautiful game’.

    Another of life’s little mysteries.

    Regards,

    Alex

  5. Gege' Bau said on January 17th, 2008 6:21 pm

    It is interesting, isn’t it - this North-South divide thing. I come from the U.S. where we had and still have one BIG mother of a north-south divide. Throw into it the race question and you have yourself quite the telenovela!

    I also had a north-south divide right in my own family - my mother’s family was from the south of Spain (Andalucia) while my father’s was from the north (Galicia). It was a source of never ending arguments, competitions, rivalries and other nonsense… much to my sister and my entertainment. We could never figure out what the hell was bugging them - still can’t.

    East-West? Nah, it’s gotta be north-south. Probably has to do with temperment resulting from different approaches to life, resulting from climatic differences. Or something.

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