Friday, January 9, 2009

Athens - contrasts upon contrasts

Oh the joys of living in Athens. I was late paying my electricity bill so the other day, of i went to one of their main offices to pay it off. Arriving there at 10 to 8 i was a bit annoyed to see that there was already a small line forming outside. As i got closer i heard a lot of grumblings.
"30% increase in prices and this is what we get" and "You are for the rubbish (baza)"
"What's going on" i timidly asked "They haven't got any power"

Yup, thats right. Greece's Power Utility DEH branch was out of order because of a power outage. Half an hour went by as they contacted their main offices to see what they could do and to have them send someone over to fix the problem. In the mean time they let us in two by two so we could pay our bills the old fashioned way, and all by candle-light.

Of course the irony was not lost on anyone. That this should happen, no-one is shocked. But it also shows how many in Greece work, they were not phased at all that they should work by candle light. I guess in another country it would never get to that stage, but if it did i seriously doubt they would work in those conditions.

7 comments:

Rositta said...

What, no internet banking? What the heck is wrong with Greece?...ciao

Anonymous said...

Vassili, I suppose you would have preferred being shown away and not get your bill paid at all. And why don't you as Rositta suggests use internet banking?? It's been years now that it's available, no?

Vassili - Mike said...

yes its been available for quite some time,
But as i said, i was overdue paying my electricity bill. Once overdue you have to go in. I am not saying i am innocent. just recounting a funny story :)

Apostolos Syropoulos said...

Your story is not unique. Unfortunately the real problem is that Greeks are too conservative. They do not like real changes. Even the Greek language hasn't changed much all these years! Furthermore, even the so-called progressive political parties are deeply conservative since they do not want any real change. See what they have to say about the so-called national air carrier or about changes in the educational system. Unfortunately, even the leaders of most political parties are out of touch. The leader of the second largest party mimics unsuccessfully his father and the prime-minister has no idea what is going on, and life goes on. But on the other hand, the Americans elected Bush two times as president and Time Magazine has chosen him two times as man of the year...

chitubajeff said...

Hi there... just wondering how things are going and noticed that you've not blogged in a bit. My partner and I have just started a blog. We're hoping to retire to Mykonos in a few years. Take care, Jeff

Anonymous said...

hello... hapi blogging... have a nice day! just visiting here....

Geotacs said...

amazing these Greeks!

that i suppose is the Greek fighting spirit?

cheers!