2010-02-24
Why wait when you can get everything at once?
Why plant trees to watch them grow when you can get a pre-plant one at once?
Why learn English when you can hire an interpreter for ten dollars an hour?
Why should I wait until the light turns green?
If you have been waiting for seventy years for the Soviet Union to fall, you have no desire to wait a little longer argues many Ukrainians! The wait was long enough and painful.
The Ukrainians who have money have also come to expect that they can just get everything they want if they only pay.
This is something my friend Valerij especially notices because he is a representative of an airline company in Kiev. With that airline company, you can fly to several cities in Europe. He tells me what an ordinary day at the ticket office could look like.
Businessman A parks his new Range Rover outside on the sidewalk in the middle of the road and stroll into the ticket office. - I want to go to Riga. Today, he says. Valerij responds cheerfully that it is no problem, actually, there are tickets left in the economy class where it is often sold out. - What? But I do want the most expensive class, responds Businessman A. Valerij, give me your most expensive ticket!
Five minutes remain until the departure to Riga from Kiev's airport. Then, someone is calling Valerij on his cell phone. -Hey, this is B. We are heading to the airport right now, hold the plane for a while, OK? It does not matter what it costs. What? Is it impossible? But we must be in Riga today.
For Businessman A, it is unbelievable that no departure will wait for him even though he pays, says Valeri. The situation is solved by renting a private jet for businessman A. 10 000 Euro, no problem. The Private jet is actually landing five minutes before the scheduled flight. -He was very happy with that, said Valerij. Five minutes before the others, it was cool.
- Other times, Businessman A arrives to the airport without a ticket and the flight is both fully booked and right when it is time for departure. Mr A asks Valerij if there are any passengers that are willing to wait until tomorrow. Those who accept the offer receive a new ticket and 500 Euros in cash from Mr. A's pocket. -Recently, it was an exchange student on his way to Latvia who said yes, and he was probably happy for the rest of that month, laughs Valerij.