Italian Vs Anglo Part 1

Since I have dated some Italian women, I have been struck by the different culture clash between Italian/Greek families and Anglo families. The obvious area to start here is the weddings. Here are some examples of the differences:

The Italian family:
Groom to be: Oh my gosh, how many people are coming to our wedding? 350? This is going to be so expensive.
Bride to be: Whataya worryin bout? All our cousins are coming and they donate money AND chip in for a present. Not only are we gonna make money of this wedding...we will have some leftover to put on the house...on top of the money our parents are going to give us. And what are ya doin..we have to plan the engagement party...same hall, same dj, same food, same setup (slaps groom to be in the back of the head). This usually ends up with the groom giving up his last input as an authority of the family.

The Anglo family:
Bride to be: (crunching numbers on the adding machine): This wedding is going to be very expensive. We are going to have to cut down on the meal (Italians recoiling in horror)and go with the synthetic chicken, the disgusting salad and the one glass of wine for a toast. That way we can invite more people. Let's see if it affects the price if we take the dessert out. No wait...dessert is our Wedding cake....hmmmm....Here is something that can help....CASH BAR...(Italians again recoiling in horror) what do you think?
Groom to be: (Checking his wallet) I don't know....hey ..wait a minute. Isn't it customary that the father of the bride pays for the wedding?
At this point, the atmosphere either goes frigid or usually the wedding plans conclude in a very abrupt manner.

Regular Dinner at the House

The Italian family:
Italian Mother: I got to go to the supermarket and get all the food for tonight's supper. I need the pasta, the salad, the meat, and the dessert. Oh and at least three bottle of wine. Oh my God! I forgot Louis was coming to dinner tonight...I will have to buy double (this is usually for a family of 5).
(At the dinner) Italian Mother: Eat Eat Eat ...manga manga manga....
The mother never says much more during the dinner conversation - she is too busy serving and saying Eat Eat Eat....
Many Italian families make far too much food ...far beyond what anyone could eat in three days let alone one sitting. Of course, as loving as the mother is feeding her children,failing to see the irony, she will turn to her loved ones and say "Mio Dio, why are you so fat?" The house would be burning down and she would say "Manga first, then you can leave." She would be last out of the burning house because "mio dio I cannot leave without these pots and pans so dirty!!!"

The Anglo family
Anglo Mother (preparing a meal): "Let's see...Michael will eat two pieces of chicken, John will eat only one, Mary will have half, Sue will have another half and Steve will eat one ..or will he eat two? Nah, he is going to eat one tonight. Oh and I will have half...wait a sec...hmm well I will have one and if I can't eat it, I will give Steve my other half."
Sometimes the anglo mother will have miscalculated or someone will unexpectedly show up for dinner. The anglo mother never panics - she will simply redistribute the portions she has and then will announce to everyone...."fill up on bread!" That is the code word for "I didn't make enough-fend for yourselves!" It would not be unusual to see some of the anglo family sneeking off to McDonald's afterwards.

I will end this segment right here so if you need more - "Fill up on bread"