February 28, 2005
The Kindness of Strangers
Bucharest is being hit by snow again, and this time it's almost worse than the last time. Our car pool broke apart because the designated driver couldn't get his four-wheel-drive to move out of the masses of snow. So Doug and I shoveled the car out of half a meter of snow in record time and I set off to take Alan to school with my mini-van and the summer tires. I had almost no problems (barring horrible traffic). I got stuck once at the school where a nice stranger helped me and gave a good hard push.
Then I heard it's going to continue to snow for three days and thought it would be better to stock up on groceries. Just in case.
So off I went to the Billa supermarket. And I got stuck again. It was a little hill and I would have made it if not for four other cars which got stuck. Once stopped, there was no more going forward -- or backward, because I had cars backed up behind me.
Two young men offered to help me. How nice! They said something about a taxi which I didn't understand. Instead of speaking slower and using simpler words, they did the universal thing: THEY JUST SPOKE LOUDER. Stupid foreigner that I am, I still didn't understand. However, they proceeded to push the car and I slowly got a grip with my poor, old, worn down summer tires. Then the two young men hopped aboard and it dawned on me that they wanted a ride in exchange for pushing. OK. Fair deal.
All of a sudden, I remembered that I had had my wallet on the front passenger seat. I know, it's a stupid place to begin with and not a habit of mine. It was a hectic and unusual morning.
Anyhow. I said I wanted my wallet, the wallet turns up, I want to take it but the guy behind me proceeds to put it into the glove compartent. OK. I was distracted by traffic and the wallet was safe.
The guys hop off at the next intersection, I go to the supermarket. At the cashier, I open my wallet and it doesn't contain the 100 Euros I had in there this morning.
The kindness of strangers, indeed.
Posted by claudia at February 28, 2005 11:28 AMOhhhhhh Claudia, Ahhhhhhhh you sweet kind woman, I feel so very bad...and yet, I must confess that I actually laughed out loud.
The set up for this story was so good, so nice, people helping you and talking LOUDER so you'd understand...but then...
The Denouement was so sudden, so perfect.
Ahhhhh...sigh
And it's not like a hundred Euros is small change; it's not like it's only a hundred Dollars, (or better yet, a million Lei), a hundred Euros is real, real money.
I really feel badly about this.
I believe in strangers. I trust the world to be good to me. Of course, I've been robbed or assaulted or attacked all over the world so it seems a little strange that I keep my faith in this regard.
But I do, as should you, though I know that this leaves a very sour taste in your mouth. But the price of cynicism is just too high to pay, (imho), and a person's punishment for being non-trusting...is that they have to live a life without trust.
Or even better put, Each of our punishments in this world is that we have to live with who we are.
I am so sorry. Tell Doug that you need a big hug, because you do.
Sooorrrrrry
Traveller
My sympathies(NO SARCASM INTENDED). It would be nice if you could write an entry on how to avoid negative situations in Romania and Central Europe. Your blog is basically the only source of info on daily life within Bucharest.
Most newspapers only talk about communism or Dracula (when referring to Romania).
I apologise if you find this post offensive in any way. It is not my intention to offend. I simply wish to learn about Romania.
Posted by: notes at February 28, 2005 01:10 PMDear Notes:
Romania is a great country...bad things happen everywhere. I can't direct you to where I do most of my writing because it is private, members only, (and it costs money with a very rigorous screening process), but I started out over on Usenet, soc.culture.romanian
If you go over there and ask, people will give you all kinds of current information. I ended up one year by accident in Romania, (Poland was flooded), and fell in love with the place and the people. Romania is Easy. Really.
***************
Oh, and Claudia, one good thing...you didn't have an accident driving around on your Summer tires. When the streets are frozen over it is sooooo easy to just keep skiding softly into the car in front of you.
Look on the bright side.
Any day you drive around Bucharest, (or Romania), in the height of Winter without having some kind of accident, is a Victory....lol
Best Wishes,
Traveller
Posted by: Traveller at February 28, 2005 01:33 PMThanks, Traveller and Notes, for the sympathies. I'm feeling a mixture of anger at myself (for letting the wallet lie around like this) and outrage at those young men.
Anyhow.
It would be nice if you could write an entry on how to avoid negative situations in Romania and Central Europe.
Just use your common sense and be polite. Learn some basic phrases like "please" and "thank you" and people will love you.
I don't perceive Romania as a dangerous place. I frequently walk around alone at night and am never scared (or not more than any woman walking alone at night ought to be). You might get mugged but nobody will club you over the head to do so. At least, that's my impression.
People will try to rip you off, sometimes. It's no worse here than in many other countries.
Things I do routinely: Always lock the car and turn the alarm on. Never take the wallet to the market, just some bills that will cover my expenses. Never carry the wallet in an easily accessible place. Be extra careful with strangers watching you at the ATM.
But those are things I would do in DC or Munich as well. As I said, commom sense.
Hope that helped.
And yes, Traveller, the fact that I haven't had an accident with the stupid summer tires (that's a story for Doug to tell) is much more important. And Doug did give me a hug. And while I feel abused and bruised, it does not color my perception of the friendliness of the Romanian people in general. (You should have seen the horrified looks on the faces of my Romanian friends. They took it very personal which they shouldn't. It was just two bozos. My bad luck to run into them.)
OK. Enough of that.
Posted by: claudia at February 28, 2005 02:02 PM@Notes: learn to speak the language, that will get you such a long way. Anyway, most Romanians are very kind, in fact they're one of the kindest people I have ever met. Like Claudia said, just common sense will do. Romania really is a great country. I live here now for 5 months (in Cluj) and I love it! :-D
Posted by: Sillycrazyme at February 28, 2005 03:15 PM