Italians at the Colosseum

Having written about some of my experiences at the Colosseum, the appearance of some other "tourists," and the presence of the Roman soldiers, I thought it would be interesting to observe native Italians react to the structure. The most obvious reaction to the Architectural masterpiece from an Italian is no reaction at all. As I looked to try and pin a person as Italian, much as I have been pinned as an American from first glance, I was able to key in on their actions. Italians at the Colosseum are one of three things, annoyed at people trying to cross the busy Via Dei Fori Imperiali, struggling to navigate the hoards of people on their way to lunch or work, or ignoring the building and completely focusing on the tourists as they tried to sell products or services.
There was one notable exception to this and that was a father with his son. The boy looked to be about 8 years old and the father no older than 40. The boy was wearing a Totti jersey which was my first tip-off that they might be Italian. I wanted to make sure that they were Italian and walked by them to see what language they were speaking. Sure enough in thick Italian accents the Father spoke to his son pointing and gesturing. They were obviously from a different part of Italy and it looked like this was the first time the boy had seen the Colosseum in person. I could relate to this much more than the surprise I got when I saw how indifferent most Romans are to the building. It made me think of how in the US when I visit a new city or monument I am just as much of a tourist as the Japanese family standing next to me. It was interesting to see that Italians do appreciate the monuments that dot the city just as much maybe even more than i do.