“I was in Germany last week,” a
colleague told me the other day. I looked at her expectantly. “Everything is so
clean and so organized. How can you stand living here in Argentina? You must be
going loco.”
Not falling into the trap of saying
something negative to an Argentinean about his or her home country – even if it
would confirm his or her own statement – I tried to downplay the situation with
something like “Ehm, yeah, well, it is not that
organized in Germany … ehm, and, well, things here are … hm … not that bad …” and quickly changed the
subject. But the comment got me thinking.
Is it really that chaotic here in
Argentina? And is it that great in good old Germany? After 20 months in Buenos Aires
I still can’t make up my mind. But hey, I have an example proving how efficient
porteños can handle things … and at a bargain price, too.
The other day I went to dinner with
friends. We parked the car outside an apartment building where there was no
indication that parking was prohibited. We checked the street corners for
traffic signs and the pavement for the painted yellow line because we were a
bit unsure but … nothing. So we left the car, went to the restaurant and had a
nice Italian dinner.
When we came back the car was gone. A
bit dumbfounded we walked by a few times to make sure we didn’t have the wrong
corner, but no, it was gone. Still debating if it was towed or perhaps stolen I
noticed the concierge of the apartment building in his cubicle who verified
that the car had indeed been towed away because it was actually prohibited to
park on that street.
He gave us directions to the compound of
the towing company but neither of us recognized the address so he flagged down
a taxi and told a slightly shady-looking driver where to drop us off. Thankful
for the help but also a bit suspicious of the whole situation – hey, we all
have been to the movies, right? – we climbed into the taxi and hoped for the
best. Imagine our relief when the taxi took us on the direct route to the towing
company’s compound located right behind the law faculty!
Well, what can I say? No more than 10
minutes and 190 Pesos later, which convert into around 40 Euro, we were driving
away and heading home. Adding up the time and the money spent on both the taxi
ride and the towing company I would say Buenos Aires wins hands down in all
categories. Having your car towed in Germany is definitely more expensive and
getting it back will also cost you more time and hassle.
I have a sneaking suspicion, though,
that the concierge was actually the one who ratted us out to the towing company
– in exchange for a small commission, of course – and I wouldn’t be surprised
if the taxi driver were part of the deal as well. And come to think of it, we
never saw those street signs making it a non-parking zone … But perhaps I am
getting a bit suspicious in my old age.
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