I’m back in Boston with mixed feelings.
I’m looking forward to the challenges of my junior year as a business student at Boston University, yet it would be a lie to say that I won’t miss the lazy summer days in Bulgaria.
I finally have the anecdote that perfectly illustrates a cultural shock that every foreigner lives through when it comes to bureaucracy in the States.
Public service in the States is usually at a good level: waiters smile all the time, desk attendants answer all your questions, etc. But behind this seeming politeness lies an iron policy of no compromise.
On Thursday I went to the Office of Housing at 16:20 to rent a vacuum machine to clean my new dorm apartment. I had asked a friend to come help me carry the vacuum to my room. We were going to clean and go buy new furniture with my roommate. In short, it was a busy move-in day.
And then, the student-employee at the office tells me that I cant rent a vacuum right now. Why not?! They rent out the vacuums only for one hour. They close the office at 17:00 for a break, so they rent them out at 16:15 the latest. I have to come back at 19:00 when they will reopen the office and rent a vacuum them.
I could not believe it. So many rules for just one of the 20 vacuum machines they had there?!
First I told the girl I live next-door and will return the vacuum in only 20 minutes, before 17:00. She said no. Then I told her I will rent it now and give it back at 19:00 when they reopen; they would keep my ID as a guarantee anyways, so I’d surely not steal the vacuum. She said no. I asked her if she could make any compromise for me because I had made so many arrangements and really needed to vacuum. Again, nothing. The girl was a student like me and knew that mine and her tuition had paid for all the vacuum machines on campus, but because she was behind the desk, she thought she had some super-bureaucratic-powers.
The love for rules and restrictions is very typical for the American culture. Not surprisingly, non-Americans call the US a “police state”. The interaction between service staff and clients is polite but very reserved, distant, and even hypocritical.
In contrast, service in the cultures of Southern and Eastern Europe always has a human touch. Most of the time, you can achieve compromise. Rules are more like guidelines that can be tweaked and evaded.
For example, the international restriction for luggage weight is 23 kg, but the ladies at the desks at Sofia airport always allow passengers to check in bags that are 1-2kg more. Americans might be shocked, but we believe that such minor adjustments don’t harm anyone. On the contrary! Why should someone have to throw out their clothes or pay a huge fee for just a few kilograms more?
Of course, my culture’s tendency to use human judgment over rules may result in more serious situations such as paying a cop 20leva instead of paying a 50-leva speeding ticket to the government. I realize that corruption and evading the law are dangerous crimes. Still, on a small scale, when it comes to making a compromise or a gesture for a client, I prefer the Bulgarian little accommodations to the American hypocritical policy of no compromise.
***
For the sake of objectivity, read about my surprisingly pleasant experience at the Social Security Office (compared to the horrors of the Bulgarian Traffic Control Office).
10 comments
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September 6, 2010 at 10:12 am
max
That’s why they are called rules…If you make a compromise it’s no longer a rule it’s just an optional guideline which you might or might not want to cross depending on your personal judgement…It shouldn’t be that way, rules are made to be kept strictly. In my opinion the problem was the rule itself was stupid not the fact that the clerk decided to obey it. I think she fulfilled her duty as a responsible person. Maybe you have to file a complaint against the system and try to change it but breaking the rules always results in twisting your perspective a little bit. Today it’s some more kilograms on the luggage tomorrow is some more kilometers over the speed limit.Besides I can’t say I’ve seen any human touch in Bulgarian bureaucracy. I think Bulgarians and people in general rarely like rules but how come that if it says 20 kg for luggage or 60km/h speed limit we can just do it…why Germans can and we can’t? It says 20kg so prepare your luggage, weigh it and be ready, it’s that simple. 2kg per luggage might mean half a ton more cargo…more fuel…what if the plane is not cleared for landing for an hour ? Things are calculated in most cases by more experienced than us, when we don’t agree we should democratically through the means of the system try to change it. If we don’t keep the rules we don’t deserve the rights we are given by the same system.
Note: It was not a personal attack I don’t even know you prepare your luggage, it’s just my random opinion on the topic. There are a lot of aspects of american bureaucracy that I personally don’t like and they are basically old and ambiguous laws that result in everybody suing everybody for everything, but having graduated from the same high school, that held rules in highest regard albeit from Bulgarian perspective, and now being in quite a different culture, I should say I miss the american style a bit, where rules are rules for everyone simple as that.
P.S. My best wishes for you. I’ve already bookmarked your blog in Google Reader.
September 6, 2010 at 3:36 pm
zikata
You bring up a great point Max! Maybe I was really angry at the rule and not at the employee, who didn’t really have any power over it.
When I’m in the States, I always get frustrated with the abundance of rules that they have here for everything. But when I’m in Bulgaria, I’m often frustrated at the lack of order and regulation. Maybe it’s up to the person to get used to one or the other, or to try to juggle between both and to translate this behavior into cultural traits in her blog post
September 8, 2010 at 5:45 am
Katley
Funny, Americans pride themselves on their “freedom”, but don’t seem to notice that they live in a “police state” of sorts, and Big Brother is indeed watching. Have you ever read George Orwell’s book 1984? That is the situation in the States right now!
There are cameras at stop lights to record the license plates of people who run red lights; and cameras in malls and convenience stories, as well as in the downtown areas of large cities.
Supposedly these cameras are for our safety, but when I’m out in public I always wonder who’s spying on me even when I’m doing nothing wrong. Scary.
September 8, 2010 at 7:34 am
zikata
You can at least learn to ignore the street cameras. But do you know how frustrating it is for foreigners to enter the States: every time at the airport, armed customs police officers (because it has to be armed men, it can’t be just airport employees or security) scrutinize you for 20 minutes, ask you questions, look at your papers, take you fingerprints and photo, and basically make you feel insignificant and unwelcome. They make you take off even your shoes at the scanner! Its the same for students, businessmen, and tourists from all over the world. And if you come from a former communist country or from any country in the Middle East, Africa, or Latin America, they open all of your suitcases. When I arrived at Logan International this September, the American officer even opened up the sandwich that my mother had made for me for the trip, saying that I can’t bring in meat in the States (no one at the Bulgarian or French airport had questioned that small piece of ham).
Tell me about a police state!
“War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.”
September 14, 2010 at 6:00 am
katley
I haven’t traveled abroad in years, so I can only imagine the hassles foreigners get from the TSA when entering the U.S.
Years ago flying used to be fun. Not any more, especially since 9/11/01. And even domestic travel is a hassle.
When I fly down to Florida to visit family, I have to suffer through the indignity of going through the scanner, emptying my purse and pockets and taking off my shoes. I can’t bring a bottle of water to drink on the plane.
Somehow, the terrorists manage to get through, despite these security measures.
September 11, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Katley
I used to like flying before 9/11/01. I never worried about what I had on my carry-on. Oftentimes I brought snacks and sandwiches to eat on the plane, and bottled water; that was never an issue, and nobody cared. (on domestic flights that was never a problem).
After that point in time, even domestic travel (I fly to Florida about once a year) became a hassle. No more bottled water, and I had to empty out my purse and my carry on and walk through a metal detector. And then there’s the indignity of taking off your shoes.
I haven’t flown overseas in a while, I imagine the security checks are even worse than for domestic travel. They operate on the presumption that everyone from abroad is a potential terrorist.
The FDA is pretty strict about food brought from outside the States. This is their rationale:
http://www.immihelp.com/immigration/bringing-food-into-united-states.html
Does the European Union have a similar restriction on food?
September 21, 2010 at 1:55 am
zikata
The EU has some restrictions, but they are not as strict as those in the States.
Actually last year around Christmas, a few months after some guy had pulled out an explosive from his hang luggage during a flight, there were a few changes made at the Paris airport. The flights to the US (Boston, NYC and maybe Chicago, I don’t remember) were directed to adjacent gates and this sector was separated by a fence. You had to stand in a huge line to get to the gate (this is once you have passed through the initial security check) and go through a second security check conducted by American officers. It was ridiculous! Thankfully this September the situation was restored to normal.
September 21, 2010 at 1:58 am
zikata
And a funny story about food:
My mom had made me a cheese and ham sandwich for the flight. I took it in my handbag through the airport in Sofia and Paris, but not in Boston. The lady officer in Boston saw my sandwich in my bag when she was opening it, put on special gloves, opened up my sandwich and took out the ham!!!
“You are not allowed to bring in meat products”
Then she closed the sandwich and handed it back to me!
No comment!
No, this would never happen in Europe.. or anywhere else in the world…
September 17, 2010 at 8:09 pm
connie
AGREED AGREED AGREED. Because Boston University RAs are sticklers who have no leniency. Oh how I hate him. Not only do we pay for the vacuums, we pay for the fines (the one I am going to get) as well.
September 17, 2010 at 8:37 pm
zikata
Connie,
Tell us how your RA made a mountain out of a molehill! I’m sure that if he had been more considerate rather than heartlessly following “the rules”, both you and he himself would have been better off now!