u/NobodyIntelligent179

I've seen many posts regarding the unpoliteness of italians with tourists. Some of it involves racism, a huge problem in Italy and Europe, which I condemn firmly. However I wanted to write about other aspects of the situation.

Italy is facing a problem with overtourism, italians cannot afford to live in the cities in which they were born because of the rise of prices of housing, partially caused by the increase of Airbnbs,short term rents are more profitable and landlords know it. Some Italian cities have become an historical version of Disneyland, no authentic markets and restaurants, only souvenir shops and tourist traps. If it feels underwhelming for a tourist, imagine what a local can feel. Many young italians have spent their summer working 12 hours a day, catering to rich tourists while they were being paid very low wages, without the possibility of enjoying the beaches and the beautiful sceneries that our country offer.

Politics aside, overtourism highly increseases the possibilities of meeting assholes, I will write down some weird encounters I had as an example.

1. I've been asked many times for directions, a lot of times without being thanked afterwards. Maybe on your stay you will ask for directions to a local and he will answer in a not polite way because they just had a similar encounter.

2. For many years, in my daily commute I had to cross a very touristic square everyday and after some days trying to avoid photobombing tourists, I decided that I couldnt do it every single time and I started walking directly without caring about it. I have been insulted for this more times that you would expect.

3. One day I was well dressed for a wedding and a couple of tourists were taking photos of me nonstop. I know it can sound flattering but I was feeling like an animal in a safari.

4. People have insulted me for not taking a photo of them in front of some monument because I was late for an appointment.

5. An infinite amount of rude customers when I was working as a waiter, italians and tourists in my case but in touristic areas a waiter might become unpolite after a long exposure of @ssholes.

Long story short, a lot of people are entitled and they expect locals to cater for their needs even if those locals are minding their own business and not working in hospitality. Locals in touristic country suffer directly from overtourism and might hold a grudge. That should not be always taken as personal and being a polite and considerate person will surely help you avoiding most of these unpleasant situations.