The Black Market

I actually didn't even know that the black market in Italy existed until I read about it in a Lonely Planet book. And when I say black market, I am talking more so about business owners not claiming all of their daily sales for the government. Not the shady Mafia black market dealing with drugs and currency stuff. Apparently, Italy would have the fourth largest economies if it wasn't for the black market - pretty much any time you
don't get a receipt with a purchase you can guarantee that the sale is being pocketed and not recorded in order to save on taxes. (That is what I have read anyways). So it is actually pretty interesting to see (now that we know about it) and it can be very annoying at the same time.

Here is my story on why it is so annoying - I went into this store while we were in Sorrento in order to get some supplies for myself and one of the things that I needed was pretty important - I was in a bit of a panic because I had to catch the bus, most shops were closed at that point (siesta hour)- so I didn't have time to shop around. Anyways, I waited for this shop to open and found what I needed. When I went to the till I was charged 17 Euro - 17 Euro for THREE basic supplies. I sort of did a quick calculation in my head and thought that I guess that it could be reasonable, but because I was in a panic and feeling desperate, I paid
the lady even though I was really shocked by the price. At the time I was too flustered to notice the small things and should have just walked away, but I too naive to think that I would get ripped off in Italy at a proper store.  (It was the first time I had to buy toiletries in Europe and just thought it was a bit more expensive then what I was used to). It wasn't until after I got home that I read about the black market and the scams here. I should have known better when she didn't ring in the items and gave me change from her purse even though the cash register had a bunch of change in it. 

So the lady saw that I was a tourist, didn't speak the language and took advantage of me - haha I totally got the mazunga pricing. I was so mad about it that I wanted to go back and tell the lady a piece of my mind, but Arnold talked me out of it. I went into a different store the next day and saw that everything I had just bought for 17 Euro would have actually been half the price. LOL But you live and learn - I have no problem now to walk away if I don't like something and what to watch out for. Filthy scam artists, I tell you.

Love Melissa and Arnold