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Published: December 13th 2007
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Let it out...
Israeli's are actually some of the most emotionally healthy people according to one study. That however...seems like an oxymoron to me. Anger management and inefficiency are the tag words of these next two blogs. I have decided to write about these phenomena’s in two separate blogs, not only because it’s a pretty lengthy subject, but also to well umm…give me 2 blogs because only God knows when the next time I actually sit down and write another one will be. Hey…life happens.
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What never fails to amaze, amuse and horrify me at the same time is the lack of utter patience and anger management that Israelis have. It’s actually been researched and documented however that Israelis tend to be more emotionally healthy because they express their feelings (whether or not one likes it actually) and therefore do not bottle up their emotions and cause emotional distress (for themselves…other people? Not the same case).
There are spectrum's of this anger management however. From the downright hilarious outbursts that you can’t help but stand back and snicker at because the catalyst for the anger is ridiculous to begin with to the one that makes you want to back down and crawl into a dark corner.
Take for instance the other day while I was at the Cellcom store, which
Argh!!
This is an actual picture of how the mind looks if you were to get inside an Israeli's head while having to deal with umm....almost everything in Israel. can be a catalyst alone. I was there just trying to figure out if I could get Hebrew installed onto my phone from America but ended up with this great girl who actually helped me get a cheaper plan, a brand new phone and even a coupon for a free coffee and cookie pack at Arcaffe to boot!
So while we’re standing there getting all my stuff done, 2 booths down, this woman who unassumingly looks normal and has 2 kids in tow, all of sudden blows up and starts screaming her head off, pounding the counter with her fist, pointing her finger into the Cellcom guy’s face, yelling and generally carrying on. All because they didn’t credit her the amount they should have or something like that. Now, rightly so, if you’re owed money and the said person/company doesn’t give it to you, you have every right to be mad and demand it. HOWEVER, carrying on like a fucking (pardon my language) 2 year old who had their lollipop taken away is just downright ridiculous.
So the security guard came in (which by the way, the amazing amount of overweight, lazy security guards in the country astound
Wah, wah, wahhhhh!!!
Again. Just a visual representation of the Israeli mentality. me…oh yes, I feel safe (insert sarcasm here). I’m sure when it comes down to it, by the time you get your fat ass up off the chair to go after the person whose bag you didn’t even check, gets to me, I may be dead. But on the other hand…it is nice (is that the right word?) how many security guards there are in general) This guy comes in, tries to calm down the lady and the Cellcom guy starts to have his eyes glaze over and go into his zen place in his head and starts to ignore her and placate her with “of course. You’re right. I’m wrong” and this in turn just infuriates the woman even more who by now is almost throwing punches. All of this mind you is happening while I’m getting my pretty new red phone.
So as my lovely attendant Liat and I are talking away, all of a sudden the police come in. This crazy woman actually sits there on the stool and says “Yes. Thank you for coming. I was expecting you!” and then she sat there and tried to start yelling at the guy again! It’s as if
Arcaffe
I got some schmancy fancy cookies and coffee in reward for my Cellcom adventures. Verizon in the US didn't give me shit...Cellcom gets me coffee and cookies. I therefore like Cellcom more. she was thanking Cellcom for bringing in the police and thought maybe they’d side with her and get Cellcom to give them her refund - when in actuality they just ended up trying to steer her out of the store. Well, our lovely friend didn’t like that too much, so the hands start flying again and in a flurry of motion, the police deftly swept her out of the store and her kids just sat there dumbfounded until that same Cellcom guy gave them their mom’s purse and sent them on their way.
I’m not going to lie. It was kind of hilarious. But common in Israel? Unfortunately yes. Israelis in comparison to American’s are downright insane. This is evident in their attitudes, the cutting in lines (or ignoring the line completely as if it was put in their way specifically and doesn’t apply to them), ordering people around as if everyone is their soldier and peon in life, and don’t even get me started on the driving. It’s no wonder that Israelis have this stigma of being rude, loud and pushy when they go abroad.
Not to say that Americans are pious and not rude as
New driver.
Perfect. I couldn't have said it better. well…I mean, the whole speaking loudly in English hoping that by the pitch of their voice will somehow miraculously make foreigners understand the English language? It sickens me. But on the whole? Americans know the concept of a line/queue, ask for things politely, and have patience. You can even hear it when Americans call people. It goes like this:
”Hello. Is Mary there?”
“Who’s calling?”
“This is Jessi calling from blah blah blah and the reason why I am calling is because you are two days past due on your payment and I was wondering what you intend to do to rectify this situation.”
Now…this is how Israelis do business:
“Is this Shahar?”
“This is her, who is this?”
“Moshe from Cellcom. You’re late on your bill and you must pay right now or we will cut off your phone and you will never have an account with us ever again if you do not pay RIGHT NOW.”
“But Moshe, I sent the money in the other day. What are you talking about?”
“My accounts say that you have not paid by the day that the bill is due, nu? So don’t sit there and try to tell me that you paid when clearly you did not. Give me the bank account number right now and I will fix this for you. (insert big sigh because you clearly interrupted his perfect day)”
“Umm ok.”
“Thank you and thank you for doing business with Cellcom. I don’t want to call you about this again.”
See the difference? There is no pleasant “Hi. My name is and the reason I am calling is…” oh no….in Israel it’s “Hi. This is my name and you will pay me now.” Which, point of fact, what is with charging a fee for EVERYTHING in Israel???
My friend Shiri put it perfectly, when she worked with me at the Oranim call center, she said “Why do you American always give the reason why you’re calling? What? What do you want??? Get to the point!! I don’t care why you are calling and what your name is. What the hell do you want from my life?”
And that my friends, is the Israeli difference. Kind of endearing in a weird way. At least you know where you stand
Inspiration
This place was the inspiration for this blog. Among other things. in the eyes of an Israeli.
I think that the country as a whole should instate a form of anger management in the school systems or perhaps even just a plain manners course? I mean, don’t do tea time whatever, but at least a general human being courtesy course. This is not to say that I haven’t met and befriended a TON of nice and courteous Israelis who are also appalled at how some people are, but as always, the bad ones stick out the most.
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It’s not surprising why all of this anger and patience is on a short rope. The lack of efficiency in this country just dumbfounds me. But we’ll be saving that for the next post.
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