What is with the sunglass men in Italy? They are all black but they have to leave everytime the police come by. They set up with little cardboard desks....do they make any money? Why is it ok for people to beg etc. but these poor guys were making an attempt to earn a living rather than just sitting with there hands out. Explain please????

They don't have vendor's licenses.

I have to say that street vendors were one negative to walking around some Italian cities. Those guys hawking the counerfeit Gucci bags in Venice were very annoying. Some of them really get in your face.

Part of the so-called "charm" and "local culture" people "forget" to tell you about I guess.

The African vendors were the only people who helped me with my luggage after the taxi-driver-jerk threw mine in the street in Rome.

The Pakistanis come out with umbrellas for sale when it suddenly rains.

Sometimes they are good to have around, the only pushy ones I have come across are the rose vendors! One of these put a rose in front of my camera when I was taking a picture oblivious to what I was doing.

Take them all with a grain of salt and don't let them bother you, like you say at least they aren't begging.

I feel sorry for these men...gosh why is it ok for other people to just sit around begging and the police don't bother them but these poor men are giving a try to make money and the police chase them away. I felt sorry for the way they were treated.

It's illegal that's why they move. Most of the items are counterfit or hot like in New York. We saw more in the evenings in lorence when the police seemed to be less of a presence.

That was Florence not lorence

In Florence I was holding up one of their really pretty beaded necklaces and asking the man how much it cost. He got the signal from his lookout, folded up his stand and took off in an instant leaving me standing alone in the street holding the necklace.

I stood there holding it up for the police to take and they just walked by me talking to each other, so what to do now? I stood there like a boob until I put it in my purse and walked off feeling like I had done something illegal. I half expected one of the men to come and take it back, but no one did, so I gave it to my co-worker when I got home and she loved it and the story that went with it.

I sat on a bench in Rome near Castel Sant'Angelo and watched this "dance" for about an hour. It was so funny. The knock-off salesmen lay out their stuff, and the polizie came buy and they scooped everything up, over and over again. I can't imagine they ever make any money. While you can ignore them, there were crabby moments where I got tired of them always in my face (the jewelry guy, the umbrella guy, the rose guy, the scarf lady....)

These peddlers have become very controversial with the locals. In Venice the gondolieri went on strike one day to protest their omnipresence. Apparantly they feel they are driving away the tourists.

First of all I didn't realize there are sunglass men now. When we visited 4 years ago there were only the handbag men. It was ok with us as they didn't push the handbags in your faces as the rose people pushed roses in your faces. But I guess as Florence is so tiny and there are alot of the vendors around it gets bothersome for many.
At least they give us something to talk about.

These guys never bothered me or my family when we traveled. They very dicretely ask us if we want bags/sunglasses and takes then "No, thanks" answers without much fanfare or hassle.

"Sometimes they are good to have around,"

As the locals if they love having all those illegal immigrants flooding into their country and using costly social services without paying a dime.

And lets not forget all those vendors who work in concert with pickpockets. Very common in many countries - the vendor distracts you why the pickpocket moves in.

" I feel sorry for these men...gosh why is it ok for other people to just sit around begging"

Why should you feel sorry for them? They didn't just pay a fortune for plane ticket to go to Europe just to be hasseled walking down the street.

Interestingly, some places are now requiring a street license for begging. Since the looney left have gotten the courts to say that begging is free speech, some cities are requiring beggers to get a license. Naturally most don't so that they can then be arrested and fined. Very clever.

" Part of the so-called "charm" and "local culture" people "forget" to tell you about I guess."

How true! It's a real cultural phenomenon that Americans go to Europe and are so cowed that they happily accept the same rudeness, arrogance and ill-treatment that would send them into a rage at home. Just look at all those threads about not dressing like a tourist - somehow what's good enough walking down the street at home becomes degenerate in Europe? Give mwe a break!

The main reason I wouldn't buy sunglasses from these guys, or any other street dealer, is that a lot of the glasses are NOT made from safety glass. At a medical conference last year, I spoke with an ophthalmic surgeon who had some not-pretty stories to tell about guys who were in bike, etc. accidents wearing this cheap sunglasses and got some nasty cuts in and around their eyes.

When I was at the Met in NY it started to rain and out from behind a pillar came a man selling umbrellas, I bought one and was glad he was there.

When I was in Florence the same thing happened, I repeat, sometimes it is good to have them around.