As time goes by

Italians spend about 190 hours each year waiting in line at public offices. Attending to bureaucratic business, according to the Patronato Inac-Istituto, is especially time-consuming for foreign born residents, who, it is estimated, spend twice that time in line. Yet, the agency notes, most people could save time by using comune and other websites for information and basic transactions. Sixty-five percent of residents, the majority of them older, still rely on ‘word of mouth’ for information.