Receipts

Italians are obsessed with receipts. Apparently it is not only mandatory for them to GIVE you a receipt, it is also mandatory for you to TAKE it with you. If a policeman chooses to stop you carrying your groceries back home, and you don't have a receipt... Well, that could be trouble.
That's why every food shop has two layers of people- the ones that do something (like make your coffee or give you your pizza) and the ones that take your money and give you a receipt.
And this is how it works. You walk into a store. You decide what you want – say... a piece of cake. Then you go to the till. Obviously you don't know the name of the cake you like, so the till lady yells at the cake man something to the affect of “what does the crazy american want?” the cake man tells her and she then takes your money and gives you a receipt. You then go back to the cake man, with the receipt and get your cake.
It's a little bit of a pain, but I guess it keeps unemployment low.