Capitalistic Socialists?

Rome is the home of capitalism. It's ALL about money here. Everyone is trying to make money. (No one uses credit cards-FYI, future travelers.) Cash talks. Everyone is trying to get a leg up on everyone else. It's the sharp edge of the capitalistic double-edged sword. The difference between here and the "greedy American capitalists" is consumer protection.

You are going to get scammed here. You will be hustled. You will feel taken advantage of. You will BE taken advantage of. A common trick I keep hearing about is a camera scam. You find the camera you want, the vendor "puts it in the box," and hands you a heavy box of Montana air. What are you going to do? What can you do? By the time you realize it, he/she is gone with your money.

I've been gathering people for tours. Basically, I stand outside the Vatican and round people up for tours. I get a commission for everyone that takes the tour. Let me say...this gets REALLY cut-throat and competitive. One trick here, is telling people, "Sign up for my tour, and skip the 2 hour Q." (The Q is the line.) Lots of issues with this great sounding gig. 1. The Q may only be 30 minutes? 2. Even on the tour, they're still going to stand in a line. There is ALWAYS a line.

I saw, 1st hand, a gatherer/tour guide walk up to another gatherer while they were talking to people. She was interupting and doing everything she could to drive the people away. This same lady likes to inform the police of illegal gatherers-of which I am one...I'm not going to lie? The odds of me knocking this woman down, and hopefully out, are VERY good.

I was talking to my boss and I told him, I'm not going to lie to people. Anothe gatherer heard this and said, "Oh?! You'll get over that in a week, tops. I said the same thing..." I tell people you can avoid one line, but you're probably going to wait in another one. I know what it feels like to be pressured by pamphlet people. I don't want to do that to people. For some reason, maybe it's a mid-western thing or maybe my parents are good people and raised me to think of others, but, for some reason, I want to treat people with some decency. The hard thing for me is the people that are tired of being hastled. They treat me like I'm sure I treat other gatherers. Life is a cycle, isn't it?

Making money is a great thing. I guess? I hate money. I HATE the fact that I have to have money. I love having money. It is what it is. It's how the world turns. I'm going to keep gathering people for tours. I'm going to keep doing it with a smile and wishing the people that say "no" a good day. I'm going to make an effort to look people in the eye, when they bother me with tour info, and politely say, "No thank you."