If you prefer to experience a broad band of emotions, from dreamingly wonderful to terribly disgusting, all packed into a short span of time, Romania is your place. No lukewarm feelings here. In a second, you may like something, to immediately be confronted with something else you dislike deeply; you jump constantly from love to hate and back again. After working here for more than a decade, that is my brief conclusion.
I also see this accentuation of the extremes with the human beings: I have to deal with geniuses and perfect idiots. Like you have to elsewhere. Problem for Romania are only two issues that differentiate the country notably from the rest: First, the geniuses are really, really smart; contrasting sharply from the idiots, who are real, real fools. Second, the first have almost no power and the later too much of it.
There are plenty of good historical reasons to explain this outcome. The inhabitants of this region were pushed around by any empire you may have heard about, with the exception, so far, of the Chinese. The Romans looked for their good wines and beautiful women. The Ottomans wanted to squeeze taxes out of everybody. The Austrians installed without clemency their rule of bureaucracy. The Czars and their proletarian heirs put their iron fists on them. Fact is nevertheless, nobody really succeeded. The smart local ones were too clever to cooperate with the invading powers, so they led the other ones take care of these collaborative tasks. However, these later ones were simply too obtuse to really get something done. Good strategy, I have to admit.
Now, for the first time in many, many centuries, the Romanian themselves wanted to become part of a bigger power. They asked for EU membership. The EU never had any secret plan to take over here, all the contrary, I am afraid. Reluctantly they put a big number of requirements to be met, expecting Romanians to withdraw from their joining plan. Nevertheless, Romania diligently obliged to all and every stipulation. They became members in 2007.
This, I have witnessed, increased their general happiness and self esteem quite a bit, but a stubborn leftover from the former tactic still needs to be addressed: The fools continue with too much power, and although their strategic service for their country is not required anymore, they do not seem to want to give it up. This, of course, creates one or another problem. To be more precise, it does not create so many problems as it impedes good things to happen.
Even so, there is hope: The upcoming generation. You will find a huge number of highly qualified, hardworking, well behaving and trustworthy young professionals here. It is a pleasure to work with them, to enjoy their friendship and company. Eventually, for the better of their country, they will be in charge.
Will they? Sometimes I doubt. When I see young men, driving their papa’s SUV, passing expressly quick through a muddy puddle to mess up the bystanders. When I see the same kind of persons overtaking a waiting car line and, should a car come from the front, pushing aggressively into the queue to the right, just to make clear they are somebody important, who does not need to show any respect to others.
Some years ago, I had to attend a group of foreign investors that came to Bucharest to examine on the spot if their decision to build here an important production plant really made sense. For dinner, I selected a stylish restaurant in a former private Art Deco house in the Cotroceni quarter. Ambient and food were exquisite. The waiter, a little bit mannered, but giving professional character of his own to the evening, came to our table and asked politely if I could move my car. I wondered why, as it was correctly parked in a public street. A fashionable dressed young man spoke harsh to me; “You are parking in front of my house. I have to park my car there, so move yours.”
After analyzing in my troubled mind who was right here, I finally decided not to argue. It may have been a public place, but I did not want to find there, at the end of the dinner, a scratched car. So I went out and moved it a little further. However, the positive spirit with which the dinner had started, was gone.
Eventually, the investors build their plant in a neighboring country; with better manners, I presume.
Capable Romanians, take over! Do not stay apart, do not emigrate. You can change your country for the better. You should become the elite that guides this country to the future. You may not own the press, the broadcasting channels or find much tribune there, but you have the tools and you know very well how to use them - Internet, blogging, Twitter - with which you can join enough force to impose your decency over any bullying misbehavior.
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