Italian delis are totally under-rat-ed.
The latest rat video grossing out the Internet comes from an unnamed supermarket somewhere in the Prati district of Rome, where a customer calmly filmed a rat chewing away inside the market’s deli case.
In the clip, the bulky rat is seen nibbling on some seafood inside a dish behind the case glass.
According to Insider, one of the staff behind the counter says in Italian: "It must have come in with the rain."
And we thought the cicadas were annoying!
Seemingly not just your average dumpy little corner bodega, from the looks of all the other fresh delights around the rodent, the piece of fish he’s nibbling on is no doubt miles better than his usual daily garbage can fare. And from the stilted, unsure reactions of the staff and the guy filming it, this is definitely a surprise.
The owner of the store, Giampiero, claimed — in a statement that couldn’t be any more comically “Italian” than if it was a scene in a “Godfather” parody on SNL — that he was blackmailed over the video. He told the Italian newspaper, Il Messaggero, that the person who filmed it had demanded money in return for not posting it online.
"I paid up. What else could I do?" Giampiero claimed.
And of course, to little effect -- the video was posted anyway, albeit without location details.
Giampiero said, "We closed down immediately on learning the video was on the internet out of respect for our customers," adding that the entire neighborhood is infested with rats and it's a "constant battle."
Good thing he closed up and cleaned up after he heard the video was online.
Buon appetito, Ratatouille!
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