Stick People Families on the Move

Stick people families have just started moving to Italy.  They look just like the American families, but their names all end with vowels.  A lot of them ride around in SUVs, just like in America. I guess I should mention that SUVs haven't been around all that long either.  Ten years ago the biggest cars in Italy were station wagons.  And now that Americans are finally wising up and getting Smart cars, Italians are buying SUVs.

A lot of Americans think of Italy as a place of fashion and style and firsts.  That might be true in Milan, but does anyone (in America or Italy) really wear the clothes from Milan runways?  As for my little town in northern Italy I find it far from fashion forward.  For example, finding an interesting pair of shoes means a trip to Paris or Serbia or Berlin. One day I was googling my favorite brand and discovered that they were sold in my town, so I ran (in my running shoes) to the store.  They only had a few styles and it was the end of winter, so I asked when they'd be getting the spring line.  They said they wouldn't be carrying them anymore because the styles are too avant-garde for people in Bassano.  Imagine!  German shoes that I bought in Brussels in 2008 are too avant-garde in Veneto in 2017.

Speaking of shoes, I'd like to address the stereotype about Americans and their sneakers.  I think even guidebooks used to say that if you didn't want to stick out like a real tourist in Italy you shouldn't bring your tennis shoes.  I'm not sure if they've edited that page, but it's no longer true.  The only thing I don't see around here are white aerobics shoes, but anything else that falls under the heading of gym shoes exists.  They even have some dress shoes hidden in a sneaker design that cost 300euro.

So who's following who?

Fixed gear bikes.  I'm not sure that's what they're called or what it means, but I remember this new trend in Chicago nearly ten years ago.  Now it's here.

Gray, brown, black and stainless interior design.  It looks just the same here in 2017 that it did there in 2010.

Wedding invitations with raffia and rice paper.  Nothing new.

How much longer do I have to wait for the good stuff to start showing up?  Stuff like free refills, an aisle of salad dressing, hardware stores open on Saturday afternoon and Sunday (isn't that when we really need them?), travel mugs, heat in cafes, over-the-counter cold medicine and frequent flyer miles?
 
I wonder why the stick people have decided to move here and if they'll miss that stuff as much as I do.  Maybe they're coming to Italy to get away from Trump.  It's a shame no one told them about Berlusconi---one of the few things Italy had first.