After more than a decade of living in Rome, I have had the opportunity to observe and contemplate several of the unique cultures that really make Rome and the Romans very different from the rest of the world. Coming from an Italian family like mine, I am well used to the warnings that accompany some activities that you might consider totally harmless, but for Italians, if not done, could lead to death! The following are an idea of ​​some of these “dangerous activities”; drink anything with ice, go out with wet hair, or get the “malocchio” (evil eye), to name a few. Generally, I would just ignore these superstitions and chalk them up to old Roman wives tales, especially the one about not drinking anything with ice… I mean, how do you expect to drink iced coffee without ice, I ask you?

The dreaded “colpo d’aria” (gust of air) which had Italians wrapped in a scarf in the height of summer for fear of cracking their necks, I used to find this quite amusing and a quaint characteristic of the Italians. , but now it has become a matter of contention. Thanks to global warming and climate change, Rome has had one of its warmest Mays in years and no one was expecting the heat that came, so as you can imagine, hardly any of the shops or other places of business had started using their air conditioning, as I was also preparing my bikini body for the summer and started going to my local gym to prepare for the summer.

I know you think it may be pretty advanced for Italians to have air conditioning, but it’s pretty widely available now and not just for rich Americans. When I first moved to Rome though it was a different story back in the day of the Lira the Ac’s were few and far between so I’ve gotten by without it and I’m sure I will again at some point but a thing i can’t do without especially in a hot sweaty gym while working out is a FAN! So, with the sole intention of endangering my own life, if you believe in the fear of “colpo d’aria”, I head to a secluded corner of the gym to use a machine near the fan, at this time no one else was in the area, so my exercise was done under the nice breeze from the ceiling fan near me. My sweaty workout was soon stopped by a woman I recognized from my step class, she walked over and, without stopping to think, simply turned off the fan. As upset as I was I wasn’t in the mood for a confrontation so I just got off the machine and turned the fan back on to enjoy the rest of my workout, that’s when things started to heat up and I don’t want to say about the work out!

Aerobics queen, paranoid schizophrenic but otherwise charming: (hereinafter referred to as PSBOLAQ): Excuse me, you can’t do that!

Me: Oh no? Funny, I don’t remember you asking if it would be okay to turn off the fan before you did, and seeing as I was here first, maybe you could come back in ten minutes when I’m done with my exercise if you’re that worried about it.

PSBOLAQ: Everyone knows that it is harmful! All I need is to get on that machine when a gust of air hits my neck and I’ll be bedridden for a fortnight with bronchitis!

ME: (trying to be nice) No, of course you don’t need that, but I came to this abandoned corner just so you and the rest of the people here wouldn’t have to take that fatal risk.

PSBOLAQ: Yeah well naturally I can’t be on the same machine all morning, it’s not part of my gym routine, I need to use all the different types of machines!

ME: Yes, I understand your need for a perfect gym body, you will only have to put up with the fan if you want to use the machine near it. I’ve been exercising with a fan on for about 15 years, and lo and behold, I’m still alive to tell the tale.

PSBOLAQ had had enough…before I knew it, he had gone looking for the gym manager to report my attempted mass murder by exposing the gym to the small amount of cool air a ceiling fan can generate. To think that 2 adult women couldn’t solve the fan problem still bugs me, anyway going back to the story, the manager obviously trying to prevent a cat fight in his gym tried to appease both of us and opted to change. the fan to its lowest position, thus finding a happy compromise. So we went back to our workouts, left and as promised 10 minutes later I had left the area, on my way I could see PSBOLAQ run out of her stair climber to turn off the fan before another ‘crazy lunatic’ tried to kill her with some fresh air! I still don’t understand why they have fans in there if we can’t use them without all that hassle!

While this scene was taking place in the gym, I tried to scan the room to see how the other Italians were reacting (Italians seem to enjoy getting involved whenever there is a “situation”). What I saw was a variety of reactions… some sympathetic smiles, some pretending not to listen, and some looking at me like I was the Mad Hatter.

My question is this: If modern science has taught us anything, we know that colds and flus are transmitted by the spread of a virus or bacteria. Why, then, do people still insist on riding the magic carpet in a huff? It’s going to be a long, hot summer in that gym…