Today, I’m having a Bad Greece Day.
These days don’t happen too often but when they do I find myself silently questioning the decision I made to move back here. These bad days usually happen more often during the summer months. I’m not a summer person and summer in Greece lasts a kajillion years. Tempers flare, older men and adolescent boys smell. On good Greece days, I’m happy to be here. I watch the absolute chaos with fascination. On bad Greece days, I want to throw my toys around and tell everyone else to basically “Grow the fuck up.”
Yesterday, for example, as I approached my parked car the car parked in front of me reversed, crashed into me and was getting ready to drive off. I ran after him and almost flew my body on his body while screaming, “What the hell are you doing?”
He jumped out and his first response was, “What? Don’t tell me you haven’t done the same thing?”
I looked at him in shock while he continued.
“Don’t tell me you have never bumped a car while trying to get out of a parking space? Answer me. You have, haven’t you?”
I looked at him with an expression that I am sure was brimming over with disgust and said,
“First of all, I’ve never been caught. Second of all, bumping the car behind you is only acceptable when you have NO OTHER WAY OF GETTING OUT OF THE PARKING SPACE. Look at the space in front of you.”
My hand gestured to the obscenely large parking space his tiny car had previously occupied.
“I don’t care. You’ve done it, I’ve done it. There’s nothing we can do it about it.” he said as he began climbing back into his car; having seemingly decided on his own that this spat was over.
I swallowed my anger, for a moment and replied calmly:
“You know, we could all be better people. “
He all but gave me the finger.
I probably deserved it; if only for that fact that you can’t exactly reason narcissism with schmaltzy.
Regardless, his attitude, his conclusion that because parking spaces are hard to come by in Athens this gives him the right to crash into my car and not apologize for his behaviour because oh everyone does it .
This the reason that on Bad Greece Days I think that this country will never change and it just might not be the one for me.
Answer me this. Do you ever have bad [insert your country's/city's name here] days? Please tell me I’m not the only one and that Greece is not that special.
P.S Also, a huge, huge, huge thank you for all comments about your love of flying. Each time I feel a little nervous I go back and re-read them all. I’ll be sure to do this until the day I leave.
