Things I don't like about living in Italy

Pets are not treated very well
Don't get me wrong. I am not a person who dressed my cats and dogs in sweaters and let them eat off the table. They are animals, not people. And I didn't baby goo-goo talk to them, and I didn't treat them like my children.

But I do believe in neutering and spaying, giving them their shots, keeping them groomed and free of ticks and fleas, and keeping them well cared for and safe. They are great companions and need attention and love and training so they are not obnoxious to be around and don't destroy stuff.

In Italy, most of the animals seem to run wild without defined owners. There are apparently no leash laws, no active efforts to control the population of strays, and we see sickly and injured animals all the time. People will give them scraps to eat, but there are apparently not many humane societies or adoption homes either. And of course there is dog poop on the sidewalks and in the city parks, etc. Gross! It is all very sad.

Open Burning
Many cities, incuding Naples, open burn their trash. This leaves a horrible black cloud hanging over the city 4 days out of the week. Unless the wind blows or it rains, it is an asthma and allergy nightmare!

Beyond that, the farmers are fixated on burning off underbrush all year round. We thought when we moved to the mountains we would escape the smoke but no, there is always some farmer burning dead brush. Even our neighbor who has maybe a quarter acre garden patch on the edge of the city burns off his garden as well as his trash.

There is no scientific proof that this does anything to control weeds, nourish the soil, prevent disease, or anything, yet it is tradition so people continue to do it. Ugh! At least in the mountains we have wind most of the time that blows it away so we can breathe.

Job Entitlement and Short Term Economic Viewpoint
A socialist government where in large companies most jobs covered by a union contract, lifetime employment is virtually guaranteed. If you lay someone off, you will still pay their wages for years to come. If you try to fire someone for non-performance, even for outright theft, drunkeness on the job, gross violations of safety, non-attendance, etc., you can't get rid of them. The attorneys have advised us that it is virtually impossible to fire anyone in Italy. So what does this all lead to? People in jobs where they show up when they want, don't care about how they behave or perform, no incentive to improve things, customer service is virtually unheard of. Companies are unable to add labor when they need extra capacity because they can never get rid of them later when they don't; and if they are in a downturn, people are on the payroll drawing wages whether there is anything for them to do or not. People's jobs are narrowly defined so it is not like you can have idle workers start painting buildings or cleaning up the grounds. No, that is not in the job description so they are idle.

No one seems to have figured out yet that this whole situation has created an economic environment where businesses lose money and leave Italy because they can't be profitable, nor that the heavy taxation required to pay all these idle people is drawing on a base of working people that is shrinking continually. Nor do they seem to realize the hard working, conscientous works are so frustrated by having to put up with non-performing co-workers that they too are looking for work outside Italy. And we wonder why Italy's economy is in a shambles? Hm, add on a huge layer of political graft, a heavy burden of cost from public welfare programs, and all of a sudden, the picture looks bleak for Italy.

This makes me very sad. The small family owned businesses are the only ones who still try, who still work smart and have customer service. They are shrinking in numbers as the burden of taxation grows. I try to do all my business at the small shops. It is such a nice way of keeping money locally, buying locally grown and made products and knowing the people you deal with. It enhances the feeling of community and I vow to do more of that when I return to the US.