REFLECTIONS OVER MY COUNTRY. ATHENS TODAY.
Tuesday 16/12/2008 –
11.56 a.m
On my way to the university .The same road and the same habits for the last 5 years. But today nothing is the same. From the small mirror of my car I can see behind me a policeman yelling to an old man hitting his window with anger -‘Why didn’t you use your alarm in the previous corner e? e? Why? Drivers like you are dangerous! your license and all your papers NOW.’ The poor old man stared at him with fear but with curiosity the same time. It has been one week and 3 days since ‘the episode’…were a policeman shot Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a 15 year old kid just exactly for no reason. Nevertheless 10 days after that an old man driving his car is considered dangerous.
12.02 p.m
At the parking metro station. I am smiling to the cute guy who was trying to make some space for my car to fit in, but just before I put the first gear, a smart- middle aged-wearing too much make up- woman parked hers. Offended, ( a parking position is a matter of life and death in Athens…) I told her to move her car because I was there first with the confidence that the cute guy would support me. Of course the cute guy left and the woman told me that blondes like me should spend more time for parking so they can leave women like her to reach their work on time. I was happy to see her 10 minutes after in the platform, I told her that I hoped her insurance covers broken windows. She started running back to her car screaming something about my generation and my education. Of course I hadn’t touched her car, neither her mind…there are no actions to show her that my education and my generation is her responsibility too.
12.37 p.m
Inside my filthy university. People with funny hair were making coffee inside the broken cafeteria. The university is under occupation by the anarchists, but I knew that. I wanted to talk with them, see what’s in their mind, trying with my 22 years to understand if the violence is the answer to the policeman, to the teacher, to the judge. to the prime minister, to my neighbor’s mentality, to the soldier, to the doctor, to my parents, to my friends, to me. Nobody was willing to talk with me. They have nothing to say with people ‘like me’. I tried to explain that I am a young woman and I understand them but I don’t agree , something that of course made them more angry…but she was there. We sat on the blue chairs and we smoked 4-5 cigarettes. Her black eyes were shining with an amazing passion when she was explaining her theory about this fucking world. Revolution is her answer to all. She is not against violence. After all there are so many wars, one more for the right reasons! She made it clear that ‘they’ can not explain to the people what is it exactly that they are trying to do. People should read learn and get angry. There is no time for explanations. Shut up and fight. In my twisted mind I felt that capitalism works the same way on a different base. Shut up and work. It’s a free market and only the best ones will survive. For the anarchists the good ones are those who fight, for the capitalists the good ones are those who produce. Back to the blue chairs. I think I asked her twice what is the next day. What is the place and the society that she is fighting for. The answer is complicated she said, there is no plan written in papers. The society after the revolution will be spontaneously self organized. She seemed to have studied a lot in her life. The education system and the economical system or capitalism in general are not the base of the problem she said, making all my theories crash on the wall. What is it then? She didn’t answer, I think she was trying to give me homework. We stood up and said goodbye. I offered ironically to give her my cigarettes and of course she denied. She had hers on the other floor. There was no way I could approach a mind like that and show her that no matter what the base of the problem is, violence is not the answer.
11.20 p.m
Before bed time. Too many faces. Too many truths and too many lies. I remember this summer when I was showing my friends from abroad my city. Athens by night. I was explaining how a capital can combine ancient history with electro clubs, how can a country combine free market with 100% free education. I forgot to mention how a nation can combine democracy and corruption at the very same time.
Τζωρτζίνα.
Photo: The Battle of Thessaloniki, Nikolas Papageorgiou
Text: Georgia Michailidou
