A QUESTION

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I am moved to ask this question because, much as I love Sicily, there are times when I think I am getting old, going mad and losing my grip on the modern world all at the same time, so here goes:  if you were to see a crowd barrier on the edge of a pavement, would you walk inside it on the pavement or outside it on a busy road?

Seeing one such barrier on Catania's main shopping street, Via Etnea on Tuesday, I walked inside it, on the pavement and was promptly yelled at by a workman on some scaffolding above.  Now, as it is my habit to look where I am going instead of above my head when walking, I hadn't seen the scaffolding and neither had several other people walking in the same direction.  Asked by our literally highly-strung workman what I thought the crowd barrier was for, I was tempted to shout back that most people would imagine it was there to save them from death at the wheels of speeding vehicles on a dangerous corner but, as it's difficult to hold a discussion with someone four floors above you, I remembered my "de-escalation" classroom skills and walked on, reminding myself that some Sicilian situations are better left alone.

Image:  Wikipedia

Then I reflected that Italy as a whole is full of potentially embarassing pitfalls as there are all sorts of ludicrous rules dreamt up by local bureaucrats and which an innocent foreign tourist cannot possibly be expected to know about or, as in the Catania incident, nobody stops to think that what may be obvious to a local is not so to someone else. Many years ago, in the Laurentian Library in Florence, a custodian shouted at me for walking on the floor instead of the carpet.  Why had I done so? Because a Brit would automatically assume that it was the carpet that was being protected.  It was a mortifying incident for someone who respects libraries as much as I do and, as in Catania, all that was needed was a little imagination and a notice.  However, as grumpiness often seems to be on the job specification for museum and church wardens here as elsewhere in Europe, I see little hope of reform. 

Next time I go to Catania I might just have that argument with the workman....