One of the most touching things about the small towns of Italy’s Ligurian coast is that the staff in restaurants and bars remain in their posts year after year. Their personalities and physical appearances are seemingly unchanged. Their reliable good humour calls to mind The Truman Show (1998). Truman grows up from babyhood in a reality show, where all the other humans are pleasant all the time. Only Truman does not realise they are actors and his world is a giant stage set. But why wouldn’t these Italian restaurant and bar staff be pleasant all the time? They are often working for, or alongside, a family or extended family member, who owns the business. Italians have the sense to aspire to work within walking distance of home, where Mama will cook lunch and dinner for them and mind their children after school. Meanwhile, Britons move, in a bid for higher...
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