It's interesting how people in different cultures use their hands or other parts of the body as a way to communicate. For example, the Maasai greet children by touching the child's head with their hand.

Ciao ragazzi! Ma che fai?

(If you have not pictured me making about 5 broad hand gestures while saying that, you've clearly never been to Italy :P).

Well, they certainly like to gesticulate a lot.
This reminds me of The Italian who went to Malta. I found the story imprinted on a kitchen towel a while back and read it all in Italian accent. Good times.

Here's a joke an Italian friend told me once:

The police bring in an Italian guy for questioning. They put him in a dark room with a bright light in his face, cuffed and gagged.

Cop A: You will talk and tell us everything, otherwise you will rot in jail.
Italian guy: Hmmmm... mmmmmm...
Cop B: Ah, so you're trying to play tough guy, eh? Let's see if we can beat some sense into you.
Cop A: Wait, we forgot to remove his gag.

Cop B goes and removes the guy's gag.

Italian guy: I've been meaning to talk to you all along, but since you've cuffed my hands it's been impossible!

Haha :-D

So, you would prefer the other person would start enumerating a bunch of things you did wrong, with an angry tone in her voice and using all her fingers? I'd rather have your problem! :-)

Now, why do you say "backwards counting"? Because here we always start from 1, no matter the finger we choose to start with (pinky, thumb or index).