Violent Old Men and the World Cup

I had an unusual bus ride to work today. While I was on the bus, a 70-year-old Italian man stood right in the middle of the one-lane street in front of us, forcing the bus to stop. The reluctant driver let him on. Another Italian man of the same age sitting in the front row was furious, screaming at the new passenger. As they were yelling at each other, I chuckled to myself, thinking this was so charmingly Italian. But then the man who was first on the bus started punching the other one. Then the other guy spat his gum at him. This became very uncomfortable for me, since I was in the second row. Other people on the bus told them to stop and a younger man stepped in between them. I think someone told me in Italian that I should have intervened, and maybe I should have, but I got flustered and didn't know how much good an English-speaker could have done.

After work I went to a small pub in Frascati to watch the Italia-Czech Republic game. It was a great atmosphere. After Italy's victory, tons of people took to the streets, blowing air horns and waving flags. Cars made several laps around the public square, honking their horns for over an hour.