The Sociology of Italian Poop

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SOME SOMEWHAT DISGUSTING CONTENT. WE HOPE WE DON'T OFFEND ANYONE, THIS WAS ALL WRITTEN IN GOOD HUMOR. IT'S GROSS, BUT TRUE.

On my first adventure through Rome, Italy a couple weeks ago, I noticed something. Yes. While walking on their narrow sidewalks, bumping into at least one person every 10 seconds, I smelled a little something. Yes. a-Something. The potent, revolting stench smosied up to my nose quite a bit, at least, everytime I passed a tree, which is quite often. I didn't think to much of it; I was carrying my luggage, sweating and panting up Rome's steep hills in the process. Maybe it was me who I was smelling? Did I forget to put on deodorant? Was it Nick? No, no, the scent was far too distinct. It was so familiar. So, fresh but so repulsive. It was something that is found quite often on an elderly man's doorstep in a brown paper bag, violently on fire. You guessed it, poop! Dog poop! Everywhere. Why don't they pick it up, I pondered to myself? I was getting extremely irked by this point in my journey (3 minutes approx) because I had to dance, sidestepping any poop that might obstruct my path. Maybe Sociologist Nicholas Branson may help us with understanding Italian dog-walking and the poop they refuse to pick up! Here he is....
Upon first inspection it was unclear whether or not leaving the dog poop on the ground was an intentional social practice. I thought, perhaps this is just a coincidence at first. Then, I realized that no, no, the frequency with which we saw (and skillfully avoided) dog poop along the sidewalks revealed the truth. Another observation supported our conclusion; we viewed multiple specimens of some age. A few exceptional ones seemed to be growing hair, most likely a type of mold, but had such a large amount that it seemed one could give it a haircut. Disgusting, yes, but true. So, I've considered why this happens. It seems in the neighborhood in which we live, many people have a dog and walk them regularly along tree-lined streets. Perhaps the small dirt squares surrounding the base of each tree are meant for dog depositories. Yet dogs have about as good of an aim as a piece of broccoli. So of course they frequently miss their mark while making thier mark. Ellen and I have come to two possible answers to this perplexing question. First, it may be that Italians view retrieving the feces as below them and thus not socially acceptable to do. In the US people are encouraged through penalty fines to pick up their dog's poop. Secondly, Italians might not be as concerned as Americans with cleanliness. Ellen has witnessed some Italians marching straight through the droppings and marching on without skipping a beat. Americans are in several ways rather obsessed with being clean in general. In the media, being dirty has sevearl negative conotations and seems to always be a problem that we must fix. For example, comercials for mouth wash centering around a man with bad breath, a deodarant comcercial where people pass out at the sent of a sweating man. Italians are not a dirty people, to be sure, but it seems that they do not have the same repugnant reaction to getting their shoes a little dirty. They also walk a great deal more than most Americans. In Rome, and several other cities, the streets are very narrow and difficult to drive cars on. Furthermore, traffic is terrible in part for the same reason. So, Italians often walk and more walking means a greater chance of getting rid of anything that might be stuck to their shoes. Those are my thoughts on the Italian dog poop phenomenon.

Our pictures here display a couple of examples that we have come across on our street. In the second photo here we pose the question, is this a catapillar or poop? I assure you, as unbelievable as it might be, that it is the latter.

Thank you, Nicholas, for your sociological ingenuity that you possess within your mind, body, and soul. We are all better people after reading this small yet incredibly insightful analysis.