Paul Virzi and Alex Pavone dissect Italian cultural norms, contrasting their Bronx upbringing with Northern Italian stereotypes while debating tipping etiquette as leverage against disrespect. They explore regional divides between Sicilian family dynamics, highlighted by a grandmother's funeral exile, versus Germanic influences, before tracing mixed Scottish-Greek ancestry to Axis war service and Pearl Harbor conspiracy theories. Ultimately, the dialogue reveals how deep-seated prejudices and complex heritage shape modern interactions, challenging listeners to reconsider their own cultural assumptions. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
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Italian Overtipping Myths00:08:18
My dad is fucking over-the-top racist for Italian.
Oh, go.
Put the phone down now.
I'm talking about in the new hour.
Like, my father grew up in the Bronx in the 1960s.
Right.
He's a good dude.
He's just old school Italian, but he's just got that.
He's got that.
That's how you know the story is going to be good.
You start with the guy.
Bad things will follow.
It's not malicious racism.
It's how you grew up.
Yeah, it's how you grew up.
Right, right.
It's the bubble of not trapping to be Nazis.
It was just the culture.
No, no.
He just grew up.
They drank from different fountains.
That's his time.
Go up.
No, he was like, like, my father's hilarious, though.
He still can't believe Obama was president.
He talks about that shit like it was Katrina.
He talks about that shit like it was a natural.
Yo, my father, he said, you know what?
He said that.
You know what he thinks Michelle's name is?
My father.
My father goes, my father goes, listen, Paul, you know something?
I miss my father, your grandfather.
But you know what?
I'm glad he didn't live to see that.
I'm glad he didn't.
Because that would have killed him.
That would have killed him.
No, but it's just old shit.
It's not malicious.
That's no anger.
But then I've seen my father interact with all races and it's all love.
You know, I mean, he doesn't want to live near him, but no, but that's, that's, it's just, it's one of those things where I'll talk to you.
Would he have eaten at that soul food restaurant?
Yes.
Yeah.
Would he have tipped properly?
Like I said, he just wouldn't want to live.
You think white people overtip?
Italians.
But is he tipping there?
That's my question.
You guys throw money around with the tips.
It's fucking handshakes everybody.
I'm a big 20%.
I tried giving, I was with Giannis.
I tried giving cash to a kid who helped me in CVS.
Giannis told me you can't do it.
I mean, you can.
You 100% can't.
The guy was like overly helping me with scissors where scissors went.
Yeah, yeah.
And it was Christmas.
It was Christmas.
You know, Italians get crazy.
I get crazy for Christmas.
I want to give everybody extra fucking lettuce.
And this fucking kid went out of his way.
This fucking kid goes out of his way to fucking get me scissors.
And he was like overly nice.
He's like, matter of fact, if you go on that aisle.
So I fucking started peeling off some bills.
And Yannis goes, what the fuck are you doing?
I'm like, I want to give statistics.
You don't give cash tips for a guy doing it.
He made me feel like an asshole.
So I didn't.
Did you give it to him?
No, you got to go.
Oh, good.
I'm glad, man, because you guys fuck it up.
People who don't want to.
You really fuck it up.
Yeah, you don't want to do that.
That's too much.
Italians are like.
It's Christmas, though.
It's Christmas.
I know, but it was a festive time.
Stop acting like Italians don't overtip, though.
We overtip.
You over fucking tip.
Everybody gets a little bit of grease.
And then now you can't get a fucking taxi without tipping the guy who just opens the door for the taxi at the hotel.
Italians ruin that.
There used to be a guy at the hotel, and his job was to open the door so you get in a taxi.
You didn't have to give him nothing.
And then you guys are so guilty.
You're so Catholic and guilty that when anybody does anything nice for you, like, I gotta give him some money or something.
I gotta tip you for opening a car door, bro.
Do you not?
I overtip.
Yeah.
So you do it.
It's the same like, and that's why blacks and Italians are so similar because blacks do that at the strip club.
It's make it way.
Because Italians do that with the service industry.
They don't do it at the same time.
Yeah, not at the strip industry.
No, that's very true.
You're like black people at a strip club in the service industry.
You're making it rain.
Busboy gets a little something.
Yes.
Right?
Bring you water.
Italians, that's that a flex for you guys?
Italians, if the restaurant is.
No, because they use it later.
Like, they'll give a guy $2, and then he'll go to CVS after it's closed, and he'll look at the guy like, hey, I gave you $2.
You know what I mean?
I was in corporate branch of CVS so I can get some Listerine strips.
I was the scissors guy.
But you will do that.
No, but you're right.
You hit it right on the head when you said, like, Italians in restaurant and dining experience is big.
Big.
A dining experience.
If you make my dining experience, they fucking, that's, it's, yes.
So you're peeling it off.
Oh, dude.
It's 20% tip to the waiter, but the host might get a little something for the right table.
Yes.
Or I'll go always above 20%.
I never tip 20%.
Unless his service is bad.
Go, go, go, go.
My dad, my dad.
I'm sorry.
You're not.
Did I receive for bad service?
No, no, no.
No, that's mental.
No, no.
That's mental.
20%.
It's got to be bad service for me to go under 20.
If it's service is bad, average bad.
Like just 15, 20.
If the service is overly bad, definitely under.
Like what?
15?
You're not going lower than that.
I can't go lower than 15.
Yeah, yeah.
I can't put it in.
Your anxiety lower.
I can't handle it.
What if somebody completely disrespected you?
What if somebody disrespect you?
They disrespect your beautiful wife.
What'd you call her?
Under 15.
The smoke show.
A smoke show.
The smoke show.
I would go under 15.
Oh, no, he would just have him killed by a couple of his big cousins.
I would go under 15.
You would go if...
Okay, let me just.
I know, but actually, if he disrespected my wife, I actually go higher.
I go above.
I go over his head.
I complain to an owner.
But you'd still tip.
You take it to upper management.
Hold on, hold on.
You'd still tip.
Bad, though.
Someone disrespects your wife.
No.
Someone disrespects your wife.
You're like, you're getting 12.
But at this point, 12%.
This motherfucker just got nothing.
But at that point, you're looking after the rest of the establishment.
This tip's going to the cook.
Here's what I'm going to do.
It's not just this one man.
You just say to the owner, listen, I left something just because that's how I was raised.
Listen to me.
Listen to me.
He's not wrong, though.
I left something because that's how he was raised.
He's wrong.
You guys got to go if I'm ever coming back in here.
That's what they'll do.
Yes, you're getting high.
I'm not coming back here.
My fucking sweet wife likes this place.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We come once a month.
It's a rap now.
It's this kid's fucking here next month.
It's a rap.
What will you do?
What will you do if they're there the next month?
Oh, no, I'll just go to the I'll go to the owner and go, you fucked up.
I go on podcasts.
Okay, you fuck.
I go on stage with a mic.
You fucked up.
And then you'll trash the restaurant.
I'll be like, this fucking place used to have great veal.
Okay?
And now this fucking guy comes out and disrespects my fucking wife.
Okay, the veal's not that important to me.
My wife.
And that's what you do.
Oh, man.
The veal's not that important to you.
The tip is.
The tip is very important.
Now, the respect thing that exists in Italian college.
Different Italian, though.
I have to tell you.
What type of Italian?
My parents are off the boat.
So it's a different culture.
From where?
No, it's not different.
What part of it?
My dad's Abruzze.
My mom's Calabrez.
A Gruzzes?
Abruzzes.
So from Abruzzo.
See.
And then Calabrez is from.
Calabria.
That's the gambling side.
That's why I get it.
Well, the Calabrians, if I'm not mistaken, and the Sicilians, quite similar culturally.
Yes, they're both.
Well, the coffee exists.
My father's 100% Sicilian.
So he always, I was always taught growing up because of my dad and who he is and how over the top in the character, oh, this is, we're the elite.
That's the cosa nostra.
But yes, but the northern looks down.
I was talking to Giannis about this, and Giannis knows all that history about the shit.
And Giannis was saying that the northern Italians are fine.
They look down.
They looked at the Sicilians like they were fucking like the garbage.
The Calabrez, too.
Even worse, the Sicilians, because you're on the island over there.
You guys are all, you know, alone.
The Calabreans.
The Mafia manso the mafia, we looked like we looked like the criminals because it's like Sicily stars.
They were the criminals.
They were.
They were fully the criminals.
They looked at us like we were breaking the law.
They're not guys.
They can't be a fan.
We're 100% the criminals.
The Calabrez are the criminals too, and so are the Napolitan.
All three of them.
Are there any Italians that are not?
Or is that just a criminal culture?
You just named five states.
It's like three.
Three major ones.
Gay neighborhoods in New York.
It's like, yeah, it's Soho, West Village, Granitz Village, Eastville, Chelsea, Cal's Kitchen.
It's like, is there any naughty family?
Once you get gay places, once you get North Anapoli, they become less organized.
They become German.
No, for real.
If you go up north, they do.
Dude, Austrian.
If you go to like...
They're fucking Germans up there.
What's that?
And Austrian for sure.
Hold on.
It's a bunch of Germans.
I'm in Milan.
For sure.
They're not Italian.
When I was in Milan, all the architecture, the buildings, soup.
There's nothing like beautiful about the city.
When you go to northern Italy, though, they'll cover the green part of the flag and make it white and red.
And they're more Austrian than anything.
Really?
Yeah, man.
It's well, you know, Canada's like some parts of Quebec are like that, right?
With Canada?
Okay.
They don't.
Yeah, they don't really, they don't rep Canada.
Northern Italy vs Canada00:06:57
What I need to understand is why does this respect thing?
Where does this come from?
What is the take ourselves a little more, you know, what is the importance of it?
Like, because every time, every time like a culture has like an unwritten rule, it's to keep people alive.
Like the unwritten rule for you know, Japanese people, you know how they're so polite to each other?
Yeah.
It's because they used to just take out that sword and cut each other in half.
There was like a real problem with samurai shit back in the day.
So it was like, okay, now we have to overcorrect with bowing.
And I'm going to look at the ground.
I'm not even going to look you in the eyes when I see you because it was so crazy.
So where does this fucking respect thing come from?
You know, I just was kind of born into it where my father would be like, you know, there's like a little taking yourself seriously.
That's why Sicilians, if there's in my family too, they would, they would let, they would go months without talking.
They would know a lifetime without talking to each other.
If they loved you and you hurt them, they would go, you know, I don't want them at my funeral.
Oh, yeah.
No, that's a real thing.
My nona booted from a funeral.
That's a real thing.
I swear to God, families, Sicilian families, if there's a if there's a disconnect or there's a beef or some sort of drama within the family that you love, you could be, it could be a brother, it could be a cousin.
And you go, listen to me, if they are not permitted at my funeral, they're dead to me.
And that is that shit.
Yeah, man.
My Nona got booted hard from a funeral.
That was a tough day for our family.
She went in there and she started throwing shade at someone in the line, you know, when you give the condolences.
And we all got booted.
And my uncle was still parking the car at the time.
And we were shocked, bro.
You ever get booted from a funeral?
It stings.
It stings a lot harder, right?
Yeah, yeah.
And my nona, you know, she's old, so she's playing dumb and stuff like that.
She knew that she was, she knew what she was doing, bro.
She brought us there saying she had no issues.
She knew what she was doing.
She came for the smoke, bro.
She came, she pinched the lady's cheek.
I was like sort of close to the woman.
No, not the dead woman.
No, I thought she was in the line.
In the line, and she said, I don't know who you are, but she knew, bro.
She knew.
She knew.
And I sort of said, she said it's sort of an Italian.
Oh, yeah.
She was in.
Yeah.
It was like the dad's like daughter-in-law.
And then they booted us in the line.
Everyone got my uncle was still parking the car at the time because it was like a big, you know, big funeral.
And we were shell-shocked and we were in the lobby because we were all looking at each other like, what the fuck did Nona do?
And then my uncle came in.
We didn't, we just didn't tell him.
And then he got booted too.
He got the old heave hoe.
He got the heave hoe, buddy.
You just saw him go in and then you just heard, oh, like the, you know, the noise.
Yeah.
And then he ran out of the room.
Like, what the fuck happened?
And we're like, no, I, it's weird.
I have to say that.
Do you find yourselves when you operate in society outside of like your the Italian structure?
Do you find people significantly different than you?
Yes, absolutely.
Yeah, I mean, I didn't grow up in it because my father was not in my life that much.
Like they got divorced when I was five.
So my visitations with him, that's when I got it.
My mother's racist.
My mother's Greek.
Do you know what I mean?
My mother's Greek.
And Greeks are actually, Greeks are silently racist.
So Greeks will kind of just like look out the window and be like, yeah, you know, we don't, you know.
Where Italians are like, what the fuck is that?
It's just, so Greeks got a lot of beef, eh?
They got Greeks, they got beef with the Macedonians, the Turkish, the Albanians.
Dude, I don't know how island it is.
Yannis's mother wouldn't go and do it.
Like, me and Yannis went to a Turkish restaurant, and it was delicious.
And he's like, My mother wouldn't step foot in here.
Yeah.
Step foot.
Apparently, Yannis did 23andMe, and he's like 60% Turkish or something.
He said, He said, I will let my mother die before I share this information with her.
And I won't come out publicly with this information.
And you know what?
If he did share it, if he did share it with her, she would deny it.
She would deny it.
She'd go, No, that's wrong.
Those tests aren't right.
I don't think they're right, but I also think it's hilarious.
How can they be wrong?
No, no, I just don't believe it.
I really just don't.
I don't believe that either.
They switch too.
They switch so quick.
Dude, I've had a girlfriend.
My girlfriend gets updates, and she's like, Oh, I'm 3%.
I'm really hardy in now.
I'm like, No, you're not.
What are you talking about?
They do it with dogs.
So what do you think?
She's like, Oh, you could get your dog.
You could find out what breed a dog and like four things come back.
And you're like, that's a fucking lab.
You know, it's like, I think you never know if they're telling me.
And then they tell you all this stuff about your life.
What are you, Andrew?
Huh?
What are you?
Like, nationality-wise?
My mom was born and raised in Scotland.
Okay.
My last name's German, though, right?
My last name's German.
Yeah.
So you're German and Scottish?
My dad's like Irish and German, but we're talking about like 1800s in America.
So not really attached to his Irish and German side.
So what are you mostly?
Scottish?
Yeah.
Culturally?
You want to get away from that German side?
Not really, because we came here before.
Yeah, but you're also mostly Scottish.
Oh, my grandfather fought for the Axis.
What is it?
Yeah, that's right.
You're like Mussolini.
You're all body big time Mussolini.
Yeah, that was the most impressive thing about World War II.
Mussolini fucked everything up.
Well, no, no, you had all these Americans that were German and Italian, and somehow we convinced Americans whose uncles, cousins, fathers, grandfathers were all in Italy and Germany still.
We're like, yo, we got to go fuck them up.
And then the boys were like, all right.
Like, that is.
Some conspiracy theory shit.
If the U.S. government knew about Pearl Harbor and just kind of let it happen, is that why?
Is it like this?
100%.
You need to find the only way they'll go after it.
You got to get pushed somehow, right?
Yeah, you need a justification.
But it is pretty amazing, right?
All of our, if you're white in America, chances are you got some, at bare minimum, German.
Every white person is.
Oh, yeah.
German, Irish, or Italian.
Yeah, so yeah, sure.
Culturally, I mean, but my dad was like a New Yorker.
You know, he's born in Manhattan.
Like, his family's from Chicago.
And then, and then my mom is like straight from Scotland, but she didn't really, she didn't really like, she loves Scotland, and that's part of her, but it was also like a place that kind of like held her down in a weird way.
There's like an oppressive okay.
It's like when you come from a small town and you grew up poor, there's this sense, especially in like the UK, of, hey, don't be better than everybody else.
Who you think you are?
Yeah, who you think you are.
Like, you know, don't forget where you came from, that kind of stuff.
And my mom's a fucking dreamer, and that kind of offends people in like really working-class poor areas.
Really?
Yeah, because it's almost like it makes someone go, well, should I something wrong with me for not dreaming?
The Scottish are praised in Canada because of how no one fucks with the Scottish.
Oh, yeah.
They are the toughest, craziest group of people ever.
Because the Canadian soldiers on the front line, they were all Scottish and they were animals.
No one fucks with the Scottish.
Yeah, they just didn't want that.
Don't Forget Where You Came From00:01:00
Nothing.
Yeah.
Like, all their top.
And they bodied us.
But that's the whole braveheart idea, right?
There's like an army of like, what was it?
Like 3,000 Scottish.
A small army.
A small army.
Yeah, I'm still tripping on the fact that the Canadian Army intimidates anybody.
Yo, son, I'm not like admitting it.
We tried to invade.
Yeah, 1812.
They pushed it back.
My favorite tweet of all time, somebody was saying that shit, like some Canadian goes, he goes, Yeah, America, never forget 1812.
We busted your ass and it sent you back.
And then some guy goes, y'all want to try running it back?
That's fucking great.
We were technically still in England.
That's great.
You want to run that shit back?
You want to run that shit back, Slim?
No, we want the smoke.
Yo, what's up?
This is Akash.
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