What is normal elsewhere in the world is the exception in Italy. Noting that – according to a study commissioned in 2015 by the Italian company Amplifon – we are the second noisiest country in the world (and Naples the third most deafening city after New York and Los Angeles), Trenitalia has already been running for cover for some years: not being able to impose the behavior that would be normal in any publicly shared space on the noisiest travelers in the world, it has at least tried to protect the most shy, reserved, intellectual, sleepyhead users. In other words, the more civilized have for some time already had the possibility of opting for carriages with silent areas on board Frecciarossa trains (a paradox, as if the racket were normal).
The problem, however, was the high costs, given that the Silence Area has not always been available in the Standard service level, and above all that the sacrosanct right to peace was not – not even there! – strictly adhered to. So last December, in presenting winter hours, the company led by Orazio Iacono thought about extending and improving the service: the Silence Area has been available for a month and a half on 200 Frecciarossa trains per day and has been extended to the Standard price range on the Frecciarossa 1000 (carriage 8) and Frecciarossa 500 (carriage 11), with an additional 13 seats per day, to be added to the 3.000 ultra-exclusive Business class.
The seats in the quiet areas in Standard and Business have the same costs as the level of service purchased and therefore the novelty is that the right to silence is paid for, but is more accessible to all. And the Italians, a people of rowdy travellers, seem to like it: "In total, over 200 passengers in just over a month chose the Quiet Areas in Standard and Business", reports Trenitalia, recalling that on average, every month , there are over 3 million passengers on all the Frecce trains (not only Frecciarossa but also Frecciabianca and Frecciargento, where there are no Silence Areas yet).
To convince them, as well as making the cost affordable, Trenitalia also had to improve the service: "To promote the peace of mind of those who have chosen this solution - explains the company - specific graphics are being applied I invite the staff on board the train to remain silent and not to talk on their mobile phones". In short, in the Silence Area passengers still have to be asked to be silent. As if in an environment where smoking is prohibited someone lights a cigarette peacefully and an employee has to take the trouble to ask him to put it out (without however incurring penalties).
Not only that: to make the Silence Area more attractive in the Business service level, a new graphic has even been studied, "and soon - communicates the railway company - some services will be available such as the double welcome drink, the possibility of having arrangement of books to read and, finally, the possibility of having a mask to sleep”. The all-Italian paradox has not gone unnoticed abroad, where it inevitably aroused ironic reactions especially from the Anglo-Saxon press. The Nordic culture of respect for shared spaces is notoriously polar opposite to ours, but in the columns of the Guardian the journalist Tobias Jones didn't limit himself to mocking us for this stereotype and actually drew from it an interesting linguistic analysis.
“Italians – Jones writes – are perceived as noisy people only because of their language: Italian, centered on the vowels, requires the vibration of the vocal cords, from which also derives its melodiousness so suitable for opera. Actually the Italian language is not necessarily louder than the English one: it is simply the Anglo-Saxon ear that perceives it this way, because it is not used to so many syllables. The amount of information transmitted by each syllable is less than in English, so Italian is spoken more quickly. And as musicians know, when you accelerate, sometimes you get loud."
Generous judgement, to which Jones also accompanies cultural reasons, quoting Stefano Jossa, author of the book on the Italian language ("La più bella del mondo", 2018), who claims that “in Italy every speech act is a performance”. In short, while we Italians speak, we also do a little theater. Perhaps by gesticulating, as once again the foreigners who have to do with us do not fail to underline. And above all, with our own relationship with noise: “In Italy noise is considered convivial and attractive; it produces a sense of sharing and participation, it means that something works as it should”.
According to the Guardian article, this tolerance even extends to children: “In Italy, eating out with your children is fantastic, because they are always welcome, whims included. Silence is often considered more embarrassing than noise: a pizzeria full of silent people would arouse distrust”. Finally, the relationship, even the morbid one, of Italians with cell phones. Before there were only the ringtones, of all kinds and strictly with loud volume, now also video games, YouTube videos, chat notifications (but it takes a lot to silence them, at least while you have your phone in hand?) and voice messages. “There is something between Italians and mobile phones that goes beyond the lack of respect for others- the Anglo-Saxon commentator writes -. On trains, Italians seem to have no idea that the person next to them is listening to everything they are saying."
Trenitalia thought about this too and in Business Class, to avoid misunderstandings, it also provides free earphones. Will it be enough? And when will respect for sacred silence also be extended to buses and other public transport?
