Thursday, March 4, 2010

Blood is in the eye of the beholder

This country's psychology and personality eludes me. It always was elusive to me and I think it will continue to be. I've always considered myself to be -not anti-greek - a non-greek, a neutral amongst Greeks at least. I dunno why. Because. Sometimes I'm ashamed I've been born in Greece, I can't easily relate to people here (of course there are exclusions), I can't understand some things they do. All the controversy of being a Greek.

I know (especially now) some people from abroad think of us as vulgar people, monkeymen, frying stuff around in olive oil and being loud, pretending to pay the bill when is another one's turn, dancing sirtaki or another exotic but stupid dance while drinking wine that tastes like paint thinner (because it's tradition) and speaking in bad bad BAD english to women that we wanna have Greek sex with (ah yeah, Greeks call anal "ottoman sex", while in the UK they call it "Greek sex" and it is said that ALL Greeks love it ) while eating souvlaki/moussaka/rice-in-vine-leaves/something obscure and overpriced. People that have no problem stealing money from the EU or any other benefactors when they are so deep in it for them to do such foolish things...
I don't care about the money stealing accusations, every country/politician/blah random authority is "stealing" from the money they are supposed to use from something else, others steal little, others more and so forth (I just think it's hilarious they get to blame Greece for de-stabilizing the whole economy, when we are in the middle of a WORLDWIDE economical crisis and especially when we are always last to do anything/to feel the waves of changes in general as a country.).

I'm just sad others put all Greeks in one basket. We are all bad. Period.

Yesterday afternoon, while I was riding the bus to work, I saw something that made me feel especially ashamed to tread on this Greek soil. I saw about 5 gorilla-looking 16/17-year olds cheering up for another more-gorilla looking 17-year old that was beating up a Pakistani man (who is a regular on that particular road, usually cleaning windshields like yesterday). The gorillas, after beating the man up, crossed the road again to go wherever they had to go, while the man stood not being able to understand what happened that very moment, his face covered in blood. Some people pulled their cars over and gave him bottles of water. And then the bus left and I couldn't see more.
I, then, wished I was in another bus, a bus that could take me far away.

How can Greeks demand foreign respect when they THEMSELVES treat foreign people like that? How could teenagers be beating up a grown man and NO ONE would lift a fucking finger?

I officially want to be adopted by another country that wouldn't mind about my Greek past.

7 comments:

  1. I have a friend who labels himself a misanthrope and generally "advocates" (i.e. rants, while laughing his ass off) for extreme measures against social retards. Sometimes he seems to take it too far but this event here, coupled with those unwashed, uneducated idiots who cut swastikas on the body of a Greek female teacher for teaching immigrant children, seems to do him more than justice.

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  2. They don't actually think we created a crisis.
    They are just angry we need to help to get out of it. Partially out of STINGINESS, and partially because we are falsifying evidence to belong to a club we shouldn't belong to begin with. Poor koutofrancs didn't know the ancient saying, "In Greece you are, after all, what you declare"...

    It's sad how we are mad at the SoutheastEuropean cliches and bigotism while our Turkish and Serbian FRIENDS are treated this way by the entire europe INCLUDING Greeks.

    And yeah who wouldn't.

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  3. Never met a Turk or a Serbian. So I cannot treat them as a cliche:P (and I dont have turkish or serbian friends either:P or "friends")

    I don't know if *WE* are mad, but I know *I* am because I've never fitted that profile (dunno if anyone else does) and I dont like it. That's why. Simple.

    And thanks for commenting.

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  4. You know, I bumped into your journal randomly and I read this entry... I'm from Thessaloniki and I've always been feeling the same way. That I just cannot understand Greeks, blaming my lack of understanding on the fact that I'm not 100% Greek and I was raised in a more international environment. I lived all my life in Thessaloniki which totally gets ignored by everyone and I always hated living in Greece. Right now I go to university in London and I think it's when you go to leave abroad that you start understanding little bits of Greece and how people there are. Somehow it's not as desperate as living there. It helps you adapt to seeing all sorts of people and nationalities pass you by. You can't afford to be a racist here. Yet people still are.

    Whenever something happens and Greece appears in the world/European news I always feel ashamed. It's been fires, deaths, politics, our economy that is going so downhill it hurts. :(

    It will take a long time for people to understand that nothing is gained from beating up a Pakistani kid washing windshields, but I think it's hard to escape that strict Greek upbringing of children. In time there might be more foreigners coming to live in Greece and perhaps people will adapt better. Who knows? I hope Greeks don't get stuck with the image of the world they currently have.

    PS. Many times I'm mistaken from French and point out that I'm Greek, then I remember of our reputation. :/ And I don't know what to say afterwards.

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  5. I lived in Thessaloniki for about 6 years, I think people there are a bit harsher to foreigners, I dunno I've always gotten that impression. I may be wrong..

    The constant "thing" nowadays is: "d'you hear the latest economic measures?" "yeah, it's all the foreigners' fault, THEY TOOK OUR JOBS!" (and other stuff like South Park etc etc..)
    I think it's really difficult for us to change that attitude now:/

    Thank you for stumbling upon my blog, I realy appreciate comments from people I dont know :)
    (I took the liberty of adding you to my msn, if you dont mind)

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  6. I wouldn't say that. Thessaloniki gets tons of tourists from the Balkans and we're pretty used to them. I've never seen any sort of hostility towards them. I think because it's a smaller city than Athens people are friendlier and more willing to talk to strangers. Whenever I went to Athens I got very cold reaction from people I happened to encounter. Kind of London only people here are like robots. >_<

    Above all, I'd wish the way politics work in Greece would change. This constant PASOK vs ND thing is too tiring to keep up with. Not to mention that they totally brainwash everyone.

    Yeah, no problem. It was actually through facebook. A Greek cosplay group. ^^; Thanks for adding me. I don't go on MSN every day, but I'll definitely catch you online at some point. :)

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  7. Yeah thought so, when i saw your interests. We kinda match, hobby-wise:)

    When I went to London nobody really cared about being rude/mean/racist to me. They were all like they dont care about what others wear/what colour their skin is etc etc. Maybe things changed after 3 years? :s

    (and also YEAH, this Pasok/ND endless cycle is devastating)

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