Cultural differences 5 - trainers and suit!

I remember the first time I spotted "one of them" on  my way to the office.
I was a bit surprised, but then again, "this is London", I thought. "Nothing is too strange in this city".
I had just moved to London and I was aware that this is the city where people can wear whatever they want without  much fear of being judged.

Then I spotted another one. And a few more.
At that point I started to realise that it wasn't so unusual in this city to walk around in your business attire, with running shoes at your feet! 

In a sense it is smart. Running shoes, or trainers, like they are called here, are a lot more comfortable than work/elegant shoes and by wearing them to go to the office you don't have to spend money having to replace the hill of your expensive elegant pair. Once you get to the office you can then quickly change into your  smart shoes and there you go, you have a look more suitable for the office.

No matter how smart it is, however, I thought I'd never do it myself. 

Because it just looks wrong, unclassy. Only those barbarians would do such a thing!

You would never see anyone in Italy in a suite wearing running shoes. We are too concerned with how we look, at all times. We want to look as smart on the train or in our private car commuting to work as when we are at the office.
Back home people are concerned with their look even when going to the local shop to buy the milk.

A few months ago, however, I started doing it. My work shoes were feeling so uncomfortable that day and I had just bought a nice pair of dark trainers.

"They are not as bad as the fluorescent kind that seems to be so popular among commenters", I thought..

I'm not going to lie, I have been doing it almost every day since then.

Oh London, what are you doing to me?

Update 13-04-2017
It looks like I finally came to my senses... Despite being a lot less comfortable, I went back to my black leather shoes shortly after writing the article... I am Italian after all!

Rome "international" airport

He snapped his fingers to call for our attention and then, with a very thick roman accent added "dddde qua", meaning "over to this side".
Hard to believe but that is how a policeman working at the passport control area of an international airport addressed a bunch of international travellers to inform them that they could move to his side as he had just opened an additional booth.

Large international airports are normally cold and impersonal. Sometimes it feels like you could be in any city in the world as they all have a similar feel to them. They could be in London, Amsterdam or New York, with the precise location not so apparent to a traveller based on just queuing to go through security checks or when ordering your breakfast at a cafe.

While the above applies to most airports, there are certainly exceptions. One of these is the "Aeroporto Internazionale di Fiumicino" (Rome international airport). While officially an international airport, it is, in my opinion, among the most "provincial" ones that I have been to.

In any respectable international airport the personnel are professional and respectful. They act in such a way that shows that they care about their job and in providing a decent service. And even if they don't care, they nonetheless carry out their duties to a certain standard so that this is not evident to the passenger.

In Rome instead, many airport workers act as if working there is the last thing they want to be doing. Their interaction with travellers is sometimes border line rude and it seems like even the smallest task is done as a favour to the passenger, rather than expected by their job. 
This can apply to all levels of staff, from the people working at the cafeteria to even the police!

In what other international airport would you find a police officer playing with or watching videos on his iPhone between passports? It's almost as if checking the passport (his work responsibility) is interrupting whatever else he is busy with. Yes, this has actually happened, and not just once or twice!

It seems like all airport staff in Rome for some reason appear to be friends. If travellers understand Italian they would hear them commenting on the new restaurant that has just opened or talking about the new club they need to go to together. They would equally hear the dismissive comments addressed to the poor travellers.
What I despise the most, in fact, is their bad attitude towards foreign travellers. Many act as if they are inferior beings, not worth their time.

I once heard a guy working at a take away restaurant ask a foreign passenger if he needed cutlery. Maybe the passenger simply didn't hear him or, not understanding Italian, he disregarded the question and was about to leave after having paid his bill. At that point the worker tried to get his attention by shouting in Italian (well, in Roman slang), with a mocking and arrogant tone, if he was going to eat his meal with his hands. The worst part was seeing the reaction of his colleagues: they all just laughed as if they were all part of a street gang.

I often struggle to understand how the airport (and businesses operating there) can't find people with a professional attitude and a decent knowledge of the English language... Or at least with one or the two.

A few weeks ago, coming back from Rome, I was lucky enough to see another great display of respect and great service towards an Indian-looking passenger at an airport restaurant.
"Only pizza? What about a drink?", the girl working at the restaurant asked. "A juice", he replied.
After a long minute of silence she finally understood what he meant by "juice" (specifically it was an orange juice that he wanted). At that point, wanting to know what kind of orange juice he wanted, she asked him if he wanted a bottle or "spremuta", expecting a non-Italian speaker to know that the latter means "freshly squeezed". Maybe not to disappoint her, or simply scared by her aggressive tone and look, he humbly went for the more familiar bottle.