Putting the boot in: Greece doesn’t deserve to be bullied by its euro neighbours
IN the lead-up to the recent Greek elections (one and two), much of the world’s media had a great old time knocking the Greek character, having a laugh about tax dodgers and work-shy citizens. But if the rest of the world thinks that level of criticism will pulverise the Greeks, they’re wrong. Greeks created the word stoical – and they are its best practitioners.
At Kalamata Airport recently, while waiting for two Aussie friends to arrive from Athens, we overheard a tourist (northern European) having a strop with a young Greek guy at a car hire counter. The tourist was late returning his car and was anxious that he’d be charged for an extra day. The Greek guy assured him it was okay, he’d make a note on his form and make sure the visitor wasn’t charged an extra fee. But the visitor still wasn’t happy. As the Greek guy was writing his note, Mr Stroppy started up again, demanding that the guy sign the note on the form and also demanded to see his identity card as well.
The Greek guy was surprised but gracious. He said he wasn’t obliged to show his ID to a customer but took it out anyway to calm the tourist down. But STILL it wasn’t enough. “Write down your card identity number as well,” said Mr Stroppy, jabbing his finger at the form.
The Greek guy finally had enough (as had the rest of us in the car hire queue) and refused, putting his card back firmly back in his pocket, leaving Mr Stroppy to steam away at the counter. I wanted to cheer, but thought better of it.
Yet Mr Stroppy had to have the last angry word. “You know what, you have a lovely country here but you are all totally disorganised. It’s a disgrace,” he said.
The Greek guy just looked at him, shrugged stoically and got on with his work. I’m sure he’s seen worse, heard worse and has more to worry about than a pompous foreigner trying to kick major ass over a hire car.
A Greek acquaintance here who owns holiday villas in the Mani told us that a group of Germans cancelled their holiday a couple of months back because they feared they would get beaten up by Greeks while here because of recent harsh measures demanded by the Troika, and particularly by Germany. When we heard this story we thought it was both sad and ludicrous, that tourists are so uninformed and paranoid about coming to Greece. Get real! From our recent experience at the airport it seems to me that Greeks are more in danger of being beaten up by the visitors.
Flying the flag: OK, Greece isn’t quite like northern Europe – but that’s why we love it
Greeks bearing laptops
THE fact that Greece might be disorganised is completely unfounded. Sure, the country’s politicians faff about a lot and keep doing policy U-turns, but other services here, both private and government, run remarkably smoothly. We took our newly arrived Aussie friends to the telecommunications firm Vodafone in Kalamata to sort out mobile internet connections for their laptops, since they like to keep in touch with the outside world while on holiday.
When the guys at the Vodafone office tried to fit the USB modems they found they weren’t compatible with the couple’s very new computers. The guys would have to talk to techie colleagues in Athens so they could download software to fix the problem. It was all handled calmly and graciously, without any of the frowning or moaning you might expect elsewhere.
While the Vodafone guys were working on the couple’s computers they told us all to go for a coffee nearby, which we did in a favourite venue (Le Garcon on Aristomenous St), which is an oasis of serenity and coolness on a hot day (the temperature was around 38 degrees) as the outside seating area has overhead sprinklers delivering a continuous fine mist of icy water.
Half-an-hour later, we were amazed to see the two Vodafone technicians sprinting around the corner to our table, each holding aloft an opened laptop, much to the amusement of the other café punters. The techie guys needed our friends’ passwords in order to proceed. That was sorted, and off they sprinted again.
Our friends were gobsmacked. “That would never happen in Oz,” they said.
“Not in the UK either,” we added.
We well remember it once took us a month to get a broadband connection in Scotland with a well-known internet provider when we moved house. The corporate bumbling was immense, and so was the aggravation of having to ring an Indian call centre every other night to listen to the same old comedy routine of excuses and then promises of broadband by morning, which never happened. And so it went on. In Greece they don’t outsource to overseas call centres.
Hummus and hospitality
IT’S always gratifying to see Greece through fresh eyes. Our Aussie friends have been overjoyed by their stay in this region of the Peloponnese and only dismayed at the level of misinformation filtering around the world about Greeks. They have found good service and efficiency everywhere they’ve been.
And they are delighted that the old standards of Greek hospitality and kindness have not diminished despite the economic crisis. The couple are staying in an apartment in the Mani and every day their Greek neighbours have brought produce from their garden – fat, juicy tomatoes and cucumbers – and home-baked bread, olives, oil and much more.
Attention all moaning minnies from overseas. If you can’t be open-minded and generous towards Greece during its crisis, go somewhere else. Simple. I hear the Norwegian fjords are pristine and cool this time of year. Canoes are plentiful…
Birds on a wire: Our garden owls snuggle up side by side …
… and have a hoot with some amorous activity
Well owl be damned …
WE have said a lot lately about our little brown owl visitor. Indulge us, we’re new to twitching. We have found out the Greek brown owl is partly diurnal, which is why it appears on our power lines night and day. We started out with one, but now we regularly see a couple sitting on the power lines, sometimes smooching. We’ve had trouble getting a good picture of them. But now we have several, which we wanted to share. We promise to only mention the owls again if they are joined by their extended family … or develop some interesting high-wire routines.
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