Great, I leave for a few days only to see my silly spliff-smoking mug displayed on this thread on my return (ah well, at least Pado seemed to like it). I don't know if it's still worth for me to resume the convo where I left it but I'll briefly do it anyway just to put you all to sleep.
Pado,
I can’t believe there is still such a thing as prejudices against Italians in America (“in this day and age???”…to quote Joe Pesci). You are a lawyer (and a father too if Im not mistaken), i.e. someone who got himself an education and a good job to take care of himself and his family, and those schmucks make insinuations? I can tell you I wouldn’t let any Belgian here get away with it (not that any of them is likely to treat me that way in the first place). I belong to the small category (at least in this country) of self-employed people. In the socialist paradise that is Belgium, the self-employed are those ppl who see half their earnings swallowed up by taxes that will finance the generous welfare checks of those 13% of Belgians that know better than to get a job (see also my rant on Nick's blog). Who knows, in the future I might even start a business and actually help boost a bit the (stagnant to say the least) growth rate of this country. So as far as Im concerned, the locals should at worst show some gratitude. The world is full of Italian immigrants who left a tangible, positive mark. The next PM here might very well be a certain Elio Di Rupo, and in your country as well Mr Rudy Giuliani stands a chance of running for the Presidency in 2008. I guess we Italians are immoral and compromised to the point that the Belgians and the Americans have decided to let us run the show for them.
Vinman,
I am very well aware that Italian Americans are policemen, employees, lawyers, mayors etc. They are represented at every level of American society. In fact they make up the backbone of America, and we could go as far as saying that they are even more American than other Americans. Which is why one may wonder why, for instance, some feel the need to open "Sicilian" pastry shops where they serve peanut butter covered cannoli and Ben & Jerries' "gelato" or sell tee-shirts in the local Little Italy with the names of all the gangsters since the Prohibition on them. Anyway Im just giving you examples from my personal experience, which may of course not be representative of the wider population. I apologize if you felt offended by my previous posts, as that wasn’t my intention.