SICILIAN SAGES

Uncertain: that is how most Sicilians feel about the coming year according to a Demopolis poll. Like others all over the world, they are worried about what the future holds for themselves and their children and 53% of those interviewed feel that their family financial situation is more precarious than it was a year ago. Sicilians have cut down their expenditure on clothing, accessories, travel and leisure activities, with many having decided to stay at home to celebrate New Year rather than go out. At Christmas the majority cut down on the amount they would usually spend on presents but did not spend less on food and technological goods. 66% of interviewees thought that the economic situation in Sicily and in Italy as a whole will worsen over the next 12 months.

Interestingly, when asked what important news events they remembered from 2008, the majority recalled national and international news stories: they could not think of a single important event that had happened in Sicily! Sicilians continue to derive their contentment from family and friends and it is this, rather than the promises of politicians, that gives them hope.

How does all this compare to the feelings of people in Italy in general? Well, according to this report on a separate, nationwide poll, the predominant mood expressed by interviewees was pessimism. 60% of respondents expected to be in financial difficulty in 2009 and 31% of those who have jobs live in fear of losing them. However, from my own observations it is impossible to be totally pessimistic in Sicily: frustrated, yes; resigned, yes and uncertain, certainly, for the simplest transaction can turn into a bureaucratic nightmare and you never know if, let alone when, it will be completed. In the rest of Italy you may be prepared for the bureaucracy but you do know that eventually your business will be concluded! But in Sicily, where family is everything and friends are cherished, you can, on most days, even in the middle of winter, at least sit in the sun and exercise your pazienza!

Finally, just to cheer up my fellow countrymen and women, the only people in Europe who feel more pessimistic than the Italians at the moment are reportedly the British!