Basta - Enough - Touchpaper 1
In Rome on holiday with my little sons in 2007, the hawkers were insistent to the point of harassment. My sons were 8 and 3 years old and I was a highly protective mother, for reasons that may become clear below. The hawkers had small toys for sale and we bought a few but we could not buy them all. Zooming in on my boys at every landmark from the Trevi Fountain to the Pantheon, they would toss the toys into my sons’ hands or drop them into their laps. I understood the hawkers were low income earners trying to make a living but it became infuriating. Through observing another mother I learned the word “Basta — enough !” I tried it and it worked. The hawker left us alone for a bit. So, I taught this to my little ones and explained that we were not going to buy any more toys and that these men in Rome were being “very naughty” by throwing toys to them and trying to make them take stuff rather than letting them choose their own. I taught the boys to cross their arms if a toy was tosse...