25 july 2005

This morning I missed my 8 am bus to Mostar. I was at the station, with a ticket, but the clerk told me the wrong gate and I was too sleepy to be skeptical. Then she made me buy another ticket, for the next bus, eight hours later.

I am reading a good book, Cafe Europa: life after communism, by the Croatian author Slavenka Drakulić. It has been very helpful to my sense of calm as I try to interact with people here. She writes, for example, about the slow pace with which post-communist countries are grasping the service economy. Under communism there was no reason for a salesperson to be friendly or helpful - the customer was the one in need of scarce goods. The system has changed, but service with a smile has not yet caught on. And I hate to say it, but I miss even the most fake how're-we-all-doin-today cashier smile. I don't like being eyed suspiciously as I choose my yogurt.