Today at Esselunga, I hit the lunch rush by accident. While I was tapping my foot and trying to block the occasional cutter attempting to wedge a plastic basket into what passes for a line here, they opened a new "cassa," or checkstand.
And no one moved. For the first time, the store opened a line exclusively for Bancomat and credit cards. Normally, given how much Italians HATE to stand in line (too much of that at government offices), the octogenarians would surge en masse to be first. But still, no one moved. "E Italia," one of the other checkers said, under his breath. Like, "You're insane. What did you think would happen?"
So I moved.
Italy still operates on cash. Most credit cards are prepaid or of the American Express variety--capped and paid off every six weeks. Very few carry a balance here.
As a result, getting change becomes a bit tricky. Shop owners repeatedly ask for exact change, or "un eurino." A few weeks ago, the grocery store checker made change by asking the next person in line for varying denominations. When he got to me, I helped with the 10 I had in my purse. But when he realized I was paying with a card, he couldn't figure out how to add the 10-euro credit on. I ended up being trundled off to a new checkstand where the manager punched in the secret code.
All I can figure is that the E.U. treasury is printing only 50s and 100s for Italy...
