It happens all over the world, but it is an epidemic here. It can often be the most frustrating experience of each day. You call the plumber because there is water all over the bathroom floor . . . this is my current reality. “I’ll be by in an hour, hour and a half at the most.” That was yesterday and today is today and still no plumber. You can call the plumber back and ask him why didn’t he come and he will say, I got busy doing other things, or my car broken down, or I got hurt and couldn’t work anymore yesterday, and all of these things may be true, but more likely none of them are. People say all kinds of things that they don’t really mean. For instance, the statement in the title was said by the bride at her wedding reception. Later she told us that what she really wanted to do was bash half the people in the head because of the things they were saying to her.
It seems to be one of the least liked results of socialism -- people pass the buck. No one is ever at fault here for whatever is happening at the moment. I just got off the phone with our internet company and it was a fairly typical conversation. Meaning that the first 10 minutes was practically an argument, just to get the technician to admit that they were actually having a problem! Then once he finally caved in an admitted that they were having some problems with the internet service, he emphatically declared that they would have in resolved in 30 minutes or less. They always say that here. It may be days or weeks before it is actually resolved, but no matter how many times you call, it always will be resolved in 30 minutes or less. This particular call I made hours ago . . . the internet is still running at about 20% of the speed I am actually paying for . . . .
The other answer that one consistently receives if the first answer is not employed, e.g. that is will be repaired in 30 minutes or less, is, “It’s not our fault.” That is the answer one gets when the person hearing about the problem does not want to get out of their chair nor stop playing solitaire. There is no sense of personal responsibility at all. And scary thing is I find it can rub off on me. I can say things that I really mean . . . at that moment, but which I don’t follow through with and it becomes something less than the truth. I can also just offer the first thing that comes to my mind, and that too can be less than the total truth. Worst of all is that I can blame others for what falls within my power to affect and be responsible for . . . what’s happening?
Well it seems that to really be a person of integrity and truthfulness I have to first of all have a really honest conversation with myself and decide that nothing less than exact and precise honesty and truthfulness is acceptable. I am working on that, . . . honestly! But here in the former Yugoslavia, it’s proper, expected, understood, common, dependable and without fail that the person you are talking with is obligated to tell you what you expect to hear, and that is the truth as we know it in this part of the world.
I don’t want to become that kind of person. I want my faith to be visible in my words. My yes yes and my no no and all the details in between precisely and wholly truthful. Otherwise I will say what is expected and sought after rather than words of life.
It seems to be one of the least liked results of socialism -- people pass the buck. No one is ever at fault here for whatever is happening at the moment. I just got off the phone with our internet company and it was a fairly typical conversation. Meaning that the first 10 minutes was practically an argument, just to get the technician to admit that they were actually having a problem! Then once he finally caved in an admitted that they were having some problems with the internet service, he emphatically declared that they would have in resolved in 30 minutes or less. They always say that here. It may be days or weeks before it is actually resolved, but no matter how many times you call, it always will be resolved in 30 minutes or less. This particular call I made hours ago . . . the internet is still running at about 20% of the speed I am actually paying for . . . .
The other answer that one consistently receives if the first answer is not employed, e.g. that is will be repaired in 30 minutes or less, is, “It’s not our fault.” That is the answer one gets when the person hearing about the problem does not want to get out of their chair nor stop playing solitaire. There is no sense of personal responsibility at all. And scary thing is I find it can rub off on me. I can say things that I really mean . . . at that moment, but which I don’t follow through with and it becomes something less than the truth. I can also just offer the first thing that comes to my mind, and that too can be less than the total truth. Worst of all is that I can blame others for what falls within my power to affect and be responsible for . . . what’s happening?
Well it seems that to really be a person of integrity and truthfulness I have to first of all have a really honest conversation with myself and decide that nothing less than exact and precise honesty and truthfulness is acceptable. I am working on that, . . . honestly! But here in the former Yugoslavia, it’s proper, expected, understood, common, dependable and without fail that the person you are talking with is obligated to tell you what you expect to hear, and that is the truth as we know it in this part of the world.
I don’t want to become that kind of person. I want my faith to be visible in my words. My yes yes and my no no and all the details in between precisely and wholly truthful. Otherwise I will say what is expected and sought after rather than words of life.
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