Yesterday morning when I woke up my hot water heater was not working. When I went to bed last night, it was working. A phone call. A visit after work by a super-friendly technician that we had never met. 30 minutes of caldia tinkering. Voila. Hot water back in business. That, my friends, is super-efficient. It happens here, often.
However. . .
People that I know well and even those I don't know so well, never pass a chance to comment upon or chime in any conversations about Italian efficiency, or lack thereof. Every single person has a story, a tale of a time that things did not go so smoothly. . .especially with dealing with Italian bureaucracy: the phone guy didn't show up; the store was closed at an hour outside of its posted time; it was impossible to get an appointment; after waiting in line for 45 minutes, the window closed. . . story after story after story. I even have a couple of these oh-so-frustrating stories.
I have come to believe that so much emphasis is focused on the inefficiency, that the times of efficiency go unnoted. Today, I felt compelled to note the efficiency, just for the record. It happens more than you think.
4 comments:
Oh, this is so true... for example, it took us 2 months to set up phone line here and in the end they gave our number to someone else but the phone bills would come to us; that was a mess... And this famous Italian bureaucracy, a nightmare... But at the same time people here all always nice and eager to help.
Have a good day :)
Kasia
Good for you for posting this! I have to admit I'm one of the people who tend to harp on the inefficiencies, but you're right that many times things are accomplished quickly.
True, there are few know stories out there about Italian efficiency. I think the main problem about Italian inefficiency, and why it makes more of a story, is its outrageousness: the public and the private sectors can get away with it.
A mixed story: this winter we got snowed it and without power just as Rebecca had come home from the hospital. We needed to have some electrical equipment working. I was on the phone for ever with the electricity company trying to get an idea about the extent of the problem, but couldn't get any answers. In the end I called our comune to see if they could tell me more: they sent out the protezione civile with a generator!
Francesa,
Perhaps the most telling part of your story is not the problems with the electrical company, but the fact that the comune sent you a generator. Just like that. Just because you have a child in need. Just because they care. I suppose that it's small town life that makes those gestures possible.
Kasia,
I too, have had many frustrating dealings with the phone monopoly Telecom. . . twice, in 2 different cities, my line was just taken by a newer building / apartment. Just like that. We need a new line, this one looks good. . . let's go for it. The second time around I could hear the conversations of the neighbor.
KC,
I live under the umbrella of the American government in ITaly. Most things that you have to deal with as an EXpat don't exist for me. . . or I have a translator or liason to help me through all of it. I made 3 trips to get fingerprinted for my sojourner's permit in the fall. Three. The office was closed. We don't do that on Tuesday's . . .yadda, yadda, yadda trips. However, I was escorted by a liason who dealt with everything. So. . the litte inefficiences shouldn't bother me or those in similar situations as much. . . OH but boy do they!
Have a nice labor day ladies. I must work.
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