Having just spent time in Sicily, I learned about how Sicilians react to, and with strangers. My maternal grandparents, having immigrated to the United States in 1918, were the main reason I wanted to go there. My experiences with my grandparents were so warm and loving that I guess I expected people to be more friendly, even though the personal interactions with one’s family do not indicate anything of the kind.
And so, knowing very few words in Sicilian, I greeted people I passed on the street with “Bon jorno.” Many people didn’t even look at me. Some gave me blank looks and every so often I would receive a “Bon jorno” in return. I forgot that it meant “Good morning” and so I said it all day long. With my memory as it is, it could have been worse. I was blissfully unaware of what I was doing, other than trying to be friendly. I tried to make eye contact with people as we walked all over the towns where we stayed. The B&B owners were friendly, wonderful people. But they said to me that Sicilians were not very friendly when I told them about my experiences.
Despite that, I decided that I would continue to smile and speak to people as we walked everywhere. Mostly, people just wouldn’t respond at all. Once in a while, I would catch a person’s eye and they would react in 1 of 3 ways. They would ignore me, or look startled and keep walking, or they would actually look at me. Now if someone really looked at me, they might actually frown. But the exciting response was when a person would make real eye contact, smile and return the greeting.
It was my mission to interact with everyone I came into contact with, even though I knew I wouldn’t be successful most of the time. And it was worth it to receive those smiles.The more I did this, the more smiles I received. And when people quickly walked away from me, it made me laugh. I came across many more smiles and interactions as time went on. In all of my experiences with people there, I learned something. From the beginning that was my goal. Mission accomplished!