Random observations in Rome

I'm a behavioral statistician...I notice trends and patterns in the things people do. I mostly apply this to STD work so I can help pay bills, but it goes deeper than that, because this isn't just my occupation; it's how my brain works, when it works at all.

So naturally, when I'm in another city, I watch the behaviors. When I don't know the language it's even more fun, because if have to try to read conversations, tones, facial expressions, gestures...all the things that words don't say.

In Rome, I find myself deeply distrusting everyone. The place is such an overt tourist trap, and people are always in your face trying to make a Euro. It is exhausting. They'll take your picture for you so you don't have to do a selfie! They'll sell you a cold water! They will dress up like ancient Romans and take your photo (for tips). They will sell you a flower, a parasol, a pair of sunglasses, scarves, sun hats.  Arrrrrgh, go away and let me look at stuff! No one is particularly nice about their sales pitch; just aggressive.

Some folks have a clever little deal. Young men and women who speak a given language will charge a few extra euro above the ticket price to guide tourists through the sites. You get to skip the lines with them (guess they bought passes of some kind), and it is probably nice to have someone interpret what you're seeing, as most of Rome is set up in a "Here it is. You figure it out yourself" kind of way. It's probably not such a bad deal, and they're sharing knowledge rather than trying to pickpocket you. And they're trying to be charming, which no one else is.

Nearly all of these hawkers, buskers and salesmen are men. A few tour guides are women, but all of the street sales people are men. Every cart, every stall, every wandering salesman is male. Most have very dark skin, some of them African, but some from parts of India or Bangladesh or Pakistan. In a moment of total absurdity, I found myself wanting to ask where they get decent Indo-Pak food in Rome. But they would probably expect money for the information.

There are women inside some of the shops in the actual buildings. But I haven't seen any outside.

The other thing that I keep pointing out to the kids is that people built most of these amazing structures or artworks to glorify a god or gods (or an emperor, as in the fancy tombs). People believe in their gods so strongly, and they so much want their god to be better than other gods, that they make incredible art.  But really, that's only part of it. If you wanted to be an artist and eat, back in those days, you worked on commissions from the rich. And the rich told you what you were gonna paint about. So sometimes it's tough to trust the art, too, because it wasn't necessarily the artist's idea to paint that stuff. But still, there are incredible works of religious passion everywhere, from candle sconces to altar cloths to fountains with old Roman gods.  Of course, there's also the Jewish ghetto, a horrid example of religious beliefs gone completely psychotic. And I haven't seen a Muslim or Buddhist thing anywhere. Not all religious passion is positive.

You'll also find the images of Roman gods in frescoes and cycles of story paintings in some very Catholic buildings. Sure, the room was built for a Pope, or other Catholic, but the story of Venus, Cupid and Psyche is depicted in the frescoes.

There are lots more things to notice, like teeth (the most beautiful people seem to have over bites), and hair (oh, to have Roman hair), and the fact that everyone tends to walk more confidently in their home city than anywhere else. Romans are either walking purposefully and somewhat assertively, or they are slowly ambling along, texting. Tourists walk differently, more tentatively.

There's a whole other category of behavior involving the heat in Rome, and how various people deal with being soaked in sweat. But I haven't really picked that one apart yet, because I'm busy trying to rehydrate.