It is useless to deny it. Some Italian events pain and embarrass us, also because, at times, we are co-responsible. But there are other reasons that make us proud and proud to be Italian. And we have found many reasons, even 100. We have drawn many of them from an old article of 2014 published by “Corriere della Sera”, others we have written directly ourselves.
There is more pleasure in being Italian …
1. Because we are smart, when we don’t get smart.
2. Because we are intuitive, if we do not fall into superficiality.
3. Because we are immediate, when we do not become impulsive.
4. Because we are unpredictable, if we don’t become unreliable.
5. Because we are brilliant. No one is quite as good at turning a crisis into a party.
6. Because we are kind and capable of beautiful gestures, then we find it difficult to transform them into good behaviors.
7. Because we have taste. We instinctively know what beautiful is.
8. Because, sometimes, we put aesthetics before ethics. It’s wrong, but it’s still a show.
9. Because we are interesting. You won’t get bored with us.
10. Because in the world they look at you. In Italy they see you.
11. Because in Northern Italy the countryside is a sentimental education.
12. Because in Central Italy, life is an ups and downs.
13. Because in Southern Italy the world is a color idea.
14. Because our cities are crossed by history and people.
15. Because Milan is our America, the land of opportunities.
16. Because Trieste is the south of the north, the north of the south, the east of the west and the west of the east.
17. Because Venice makes every tourist believe that he is a poet.
18. Because Genoa smiles, showing its teeth to the sea.
19. Because Florence and Turin never disappoint.
20. Because Naples and Bari have their backs, but respect each other.
21. Because the heat in Calabria is fragrant.
22. Because in Sicily the shortest line between two points is an arabesque (thanks, Ennio Flaiano).
23. Because Sardinia has a great heart and, above all, a great patience.
24. Because the ferry to Olbia is a journey at the end of the night.
25. Because, as in the US, there is a north and a south.
26. Because the sky, on certain (many) days, is bluer than the national team jersey.
27. Because Lucia Mondella is sexier than a model.
28. Because we have our heads in Europe, our stomachs in the wind and our feet soaking in the sea.
29. Because in summer it is warmer and in winter it is colder. So we can cool off, warm up and complain.
30. Because the mornings have a taste of the sea (Gino Paoli), the afternoon is blue (Celentano) and then it’s a night in Italy. (Ivano Fossati).
31. Because we have lime trees in the gardens, fir trees in the mountains and poppies in the fields.
32. Because the Alps, at a certain point, shed their snow and let themselves be admired.
33. Because VIPs have their own dens (where they jostle with rich Russians and Arabs) and everything else is free.
34. Because there comes a time when we shut down our engines and resentment.
35. Because football is a game (not so much then).
36. Because everyone has played football.
37. Because the flavors of ice cream touch metaphysics (smurf, very bitter, basil).
38. Because life runs on trains (rather slowly, let’s face it).
39. Because in airports at dawn we look like an orderly nation.
40. Because not all outdoor shows are spectacular, but they are all outdoors.
41. Because at parties we dance even without being drunk.
42. Because in hotels they immediately understand who you are, and they remember it.
43. Because men and women work in restaurants, not robots.
44. Because we have the sea, the mountains, the hills, the plains, poetic cities, fragrant islands, lively rivers and large lakes. Sure, the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall are missing. But we’re getting organized.
45. Because Italians have been able to paint, sculpt, tell, sing, act, furnish and dress up life.
46. Because we discovered America by chance.
47. Because ancient Rome was powerful and the new Rome can be fun.
48. Because in Milan there is (or was) the Scala of football, and the other too.
49. Because we have small businesses that are not afraid to have courage (allow us, like us at Paul Meccanico).
50. Because families are still hotels and restaurants, banks and insurance companies, kindergartens and hospices.
51. Because we still sit for dinner with the children.
52. Because we put bread, love and imagination at the table.
53. Because we taught the world to eat.
54. Because we have capped the planet, and in Italy no one is denied a coffee.
55. Because we invented the pizza, the Vespa, the Fiat 500,the Alfa Giulia and the women’s jacket. When we keep it simple, nobody beats us.
56. Because many criticize us, but all copy us.
57. Because country churches are better than some defenders of the faith.
58. Because Argentina is Italy in the second power and has sent us the Pope and some excellent strikers.
59. Because we can’t dig a hole in every street that pops up Roman remains, signs of a glory that tries to re-emerge from everywhere.
60. Because we have the best ice cream in the world. And please don’t call it ice-cream.
61. Because every now and then we overturn the flag (red on the left ?!), but we love it.
62. Because we write such complicated laws that we sometimes forget to obey them.
63. Because we are too lenient with cheaters and scoundrels, but we recognize them on the fly.
64. Because we are self-critical if we don’t become self-harming.
65. Because we have shops and trades, which are now urgently looking for heirs.
66. Because we have the national health service, the public school and the carabinieri. Actually we also had the Forestry Corps.
67. Because doctors, nurses, teachers and policemen work and risk a lot for little.
68. Because if you are sick, rich or poor, insured or not, you are immediately a patient too. And in times of Coronavirus, the swab in America is paid 1500 dollars, here it is free.
69. Because there is always someone trying to encourage someone else.
70. Because we turn on the air conditioning only when it is necessary. And we did it even before Greta.
71. Because we know how to think with our hands too.
72. Because the fields never look bored. Nor the farmers.
73. Because where the valleys open onto the plain someone has opened a factory that employs some family men.
74. Because around Bologna and Modena we build precise and romantic machines.
75. Because Veneto is our Texas.
76. Because in Memphis they copy our coffee and pizza, but in Melfi we make them Jeeps.
77. Because whatever the sport we are, we are capable of competing, and often also of winning.
78. Because in every laboratory in the world there are a computer, a green plant and an Italian (sooner or later come back, though).
79. Because in every region we have a dialect, a real expression of the soul.
80. Because walking in cities at night makes an interesting noise.
81. Because the squares are lounges and waiting rooms, markets and assemblies, catwalks and gyms.
82. Because we have old houses in need of love and maintenance. But we either pay taxes or renovate.
83. Because, if you see someone with their hands in their hands, there is an explanation. If he is screwing her and thinks: well, now what do you do? P>
84. Because we say “criticality”, but after all we are not so critical.
85. Because we speak in English, especially when we speak Italian (it’s more fashion, baby).
86. Because we love to confuse those who judge us.
87. Because we know that those judges are sometimes right.
88. Because we are attracted by exceptions, but sometimes we also remember the rules.
89. Because we are resilient, not yet resigned.
90. Because we are convinced that nothing is really impossible.
91. Because everyone is everyone’s rivals, but in the end we can stand each other.
92. Because grooming us is like leading a pack of cats (but cats have more personalities than sheep, let’s face it).
93. Because the streets offer a collection of faces. It is difficult to feel different, when there is no one alike.
94. Because we have a sense of humor. And we laugh at those who don’t.
95. Because nothing is stable, if we exclude the provisional.
96. Because every now and then our arms fall, but then we pull them up.
97. Because we are what others would like to be, at least sometimes. And they don’t dare.
98. Because Italian women are the real “head of the family”. Thank goodness.
99. Because Italy is full of Italian girls and boys, and now it’s their turn. It might be time as well.
100. Because we smile, despite everything and everyone.
