Are Italians really the friendliest Europeans?
 

Whenever a poll comes up about the friendliest Europeans, Italians usually rank first. But as someone who's been to Rome and witnessed the horrors of Italian customer service, I somehow feel these polls are rigged. Italian people seemed nice, but in addition to Barcelona, Rome is the place where I encountered the rudest and grumpiest customer service: from the waiters at Termini Station, to the bus operator who yelled at me for daring to ask them a question, to the woman who pushed me because I was unknowingly blocking her way. While buying tickets, I've also noticed that the staff were incredibly racist towards some African travellers who were standing in front of me.

I'm looking forward to my upcoming trip to Italy, but I'm somehow dreading the thought of having to deal with Italian customer service. Wish everyone could be as polite and courteous as the French.

Wish everyone could be as polite and courteous as the French.
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This must be hoax.

Italians are in my opinion no more or less rude than any folks you encounter in large tourist cities - NYC is a good example. I've seen some scenes similar to your Italian ones in Paris- really rude clerks and wait people but it is often the poor incidents that stand out.

Friendly?

Absolutely!

Benito Amilcare was overly familiar, just had a poor judgement in friends who led him astray.

Italians the No 1.

Who writes the piffle?

The Daily Mail would be proud.

No

Italians are smart. When they see darkness or unsatisfaction or unhappiness or criticism they don't see the point in being friendly.

How do you say in English ? One harvests what he sows ?

And yes e always get one side of a story. If you were blocking my way 'unknowingly' there is a chance that after a while I'd push you. And you'd find me rude.

And how would I find you ? How would I write my side of the story ? Ever thought of that ? What would Loacker say if he was blocked by a rude and uncaring tourist ?

Anyway welcome back, I had nearly missed your negativism. Lost your pills ?

Agree, PalenQ. Poor incidents do stand out, but in some cities like Prague and Rome, lousy customer service is the norm, not the exception.

Having been numerous times to Paris, I have yet to encounter one rude Parisian. They are usually very courteous and polite, if you do the effort to greet them in their own language.

Wo - one reaps what one sows.(You owe me a beer now in Paris:

I don't find the Italians to be any more or less friendly than anyone else in Europe. Generally speaking, I find Europeans to be friendly. It helps a whole lot to speak at least a bit of the local language, though, and not just bark at them in English, which I see happening a whole lot, and which is just incredibly rude.

WoinParis, stop playing "l'avocat du diable".

This grumpy old woman didn't ask me to move from her way. (I was standing in a shop's door agile waiting for my friends to leave. She pushed me violently and cussed something in Italian that ends with culo.

Done deal for the beer.
Since we are being nice and civil, I must ay that I find a lot of US people friendly.
The best people in the world are for me people from Quebec : as open as americans, but frenchspeaking and thus civilized. Without being arrogant. ;-)

I have a friend we call Vafan. Italian origin. Go figure.
A guy best being your friend.

So arrogant of you WoinParis to think one must speak French to become civilized.

StCirq, I do speak Italian when in Italy. But thanks for alluding that I'm a barking dog.

Having been numerous times to Paris, I have yet to encounter one rude Parisian.>

I have not unusually - I walk into an RATP Info office in a metro station and am naive enough not to say "Bonjour madam!" - she was up front and I was just browsing map racks in rear - she lights into me yelling in French 'you come into a place and don't say bonjour madame?

I was so irate - a municipal employee treating a dumb visitor like that. (If I would have even seen her I would have said bonjour madame bien sur).

Or the veggie vendor in a small store - bought some peanuts and found they were all wormy - took right back and he said "No return"

My French son often says the French are rude to each other-I've been at restaurants with in-laws where they often received what they thought was poor treatment.

But these are relatively isolated incidents and in my decades of visiting Paris. Just mention that it does happen.

St-Cirq is right - attitude plays a big part (and not accusing OP of that) but I've seen many Americans literally barking "Do YOU SPEAK ENGLISH" without even so much as a pardon me"

Frankly, I have been just about everywhere and in my own experience, the Portuguese and the Maltese have been the nicest.

Strangely I find people more or less the same everywhere - some nice, some not so nice, some friendly, some not.

A bit like Fodors, actually.

You want to talk about rude - anyone who ever traveled behind the Iron Curtain will know what rude was when dealing with clerks or store personnel - literally throwing the stuff at you over a counter you had to order from because there were no self-service. USSR was the very worst- ubiquitously obese women in dirty white uniforms never saying anything more than a grunt.

Kerouac, I don't know any Maltese people but the Portuguese I have met were delightful.

My personal favorites are Madrilenos and Sevillans. They are very warm and welcoming.

In Madrid, my neighbors would always greet me with a smile.
In Prague, your neighbors would probably avoid you.

annhig, that's politically correct talk. Neither more or less. The discerning traveller knows better than to paint all countries with the same brush.

I agree with annhig. People are people we all have a need for social interaction. We all feel annoyed sometimes, we are all mostly polite most of the time.