Why did the Bureaucrat Cross the Road? To get to the next window!
But seriously, folks. Today I made my third monthly trip to the Telekom office to pay my Telephone and ADSL bill. The grandeur of Türk Telekom's bureaucracy is an awesome spectacle, there are easily five floors open to public, many lines, and desk after empty desk, their occupants taking smoke breaks in the stair well. This visit was different, after having my ADSL cut after a few months with no bill (which required a visit to telekom and the paying of late fees) I was determined to have the balance paid, even though I held no bill for the service. And to get a receipt! This actually turned out to be easier than I thought. After paying the telephone bill for which I did have a receipt, the tea man was able to make sense of my gibbering, "Ben telefon ve ADSL var, ama ADSL fatura yok. Bu numero telefon ADSL var."
And he lead me around to another room where a man sat in front of a screen saver, talking on the phone. I thanked the tea man, he went on to complete his rounds and I waited for the telephone call to end. The phone call never ended, at one point he placed his hand over the receiver and asked me what I needed. I pointed at my phone bill and repeated my gibberish. The screen saver disengaged, he typed in my phone number, on my bill he wrote the number that appeared on the screen, and pointed back at the line I had just cleared.
As I stood waiting to reach the man who would trade me a receipt for my money I got to wondering why exactly the second man was needed. But I had best not raise this question, Turkey has a very austere, dignified bureaucracy with offices of wood paneling and frosted glass. They sip their tea, offer you one, and push at their keyboards, keeping a relaxed pace. This works well with other elements of Turkish society, the ones that cut as many lines and try to circumvent as many hurdles as possible. I am sure there are those, on both sides, who make a game of these interactions inside the giant filing cabinets of Turkey.
A fun bit of Faux Pas in Turkey, and one I didn't notice until it was told to me a few nights ago. Turks love to smoke, heck, probably four out of five people in Turkey over the age of 15 smoke. Smoking is everywhere, in every restaurant and every club, but only men smoke while walking down the sidewalk. It's not a public thing, women will sit on cafe patios and puff away, or they will lean against a rail and puff. But they wouldn't be caught dead smoking while walking. Why? I'm told that women who smoke and walk look like prostitutes. Now, I've never looked into it much, but the prostitutes I've seen tend to stand around on corners, not moving while they smoke. So yep, one of those inexplicable Faux Pas to avoid in Turkey if you're a women who enjoys her tobacco.
Well, so long from the land where my laundry detergent smells vaguely like the gummy candy, swedish fish.
And he lead me around to another room where a man sat in front of a screen saver, talking on the phone. I thanked the tea man, he went on to complete his rounds and I waited for the telephone call to end. The phone call never ended, at one point he placed his hand over the receiver and asked me what I needed. I pointed at my phone bill and repeated my gibberish. The screen saver disengaged, he typed in my phone number, on my bill he wrote the number that appeared on the screen, and pointed back at the line I had just cleared.
As I stood waiting to reach the man who would trade me a receipt for my money I got to wondering why exactly the second man was needed. But I had best not raise this question, Turkey has a very austere, dignified bureaucracy with offices of wood paneling and frosted glass. They sip their tea, offer you one, and push at their keyboards, keeping a relaxed pace. This works well with other elements of Turkish society, the ones that cut as many lines and try to circumvent as many hurdles as possible. I am sure there are those, on both sides, who make a game of these interactions inside the giant filing cabinets of Turkey.
A fun bit of Faux Pas in Turkey, and one I didn't notice until it was told to me a few nights ago. Turks love to smoke, heck, probably four out of five people in Turkey over the age of 15 smoke. Smoking is everywhere, in every restaurant and every club, but only men smoke while walking down the sidewalk. It's not a public thing, women will sit on cafe patios and puff away, or they will lean against a rail and puff. But they wouldn't be caught dead smoking while walking. Why? I'm told that women who smoke and walk look like prostitutes. Now, I've never looked into it much, but the prostitutes I've seen tend to stand around on corners, not moving while they smoke. So yep, one of those inexplicable Faux Pas to avoid in Turkey if you're a women who enjoys her tobacco.
Well, so long from the land where my laundry detergent smells vaguely like the gummy candy, swedish fish.
posted by Alex Gray at 17:57
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