It is not shameful

One of the great things in Danish culture is their working ethics. A lot of personal identity revolves around work, working pays of and there are no jobs that are "shameful".

There is a political consensus in Denmark that the minimum wage should be so high that the person working on a minimum wage should be capable of living alone. So making a decent living in Denmark is not hard. One just needs to be responsible enough to find a job, any job that one does not hate and you are good to go.

But I must say that I was most impressed with the fact that Danes do not consider any jobs as "shameful" or "beneath you". A job is a job, what matters is that you can live normally from it. That is the moment that earns you respect in Denmark. Not titles or accomplishments but the fact that you are working and putting "bread on the table".

I guess some Danes who read this may be confused with a phrase shameful job. Well, in Croatia some jobs are indeed considered as "shameful" or "beneath you". Some jobs you do just because you don't have any other options and you want to get out of them ASAP.

I remember one TV show called "The Exchange Office". The concept of the TV show was that a public figure trades job with an "average Joe" on some normal job for one day. In one of the episodes, famous Croatian tennis player traded with a garbage man.

The details are blurry for me because I have seen it a long time ago but I do remember the point. He found an experience valuable because it showed him just how important is the work of a garbage man and how hard are their working conditions. So, he developed a lot of respect for the garbage man. On the other hand he also got a chance to experience the ugly side of the Croatian culture. One part of the garbage man work is to sweep the streets, so he did that as well. So while he was sweeping the street, there was a lady walking towards him with a child and she didn't recognize who he was. She took the child to the other side of the street and said something like: "We shouldn't get close to him, he is a garbage man." He was shocked with what he heard, when he experienced it on his own skin. The disrespect shown to people who are working as a garbage man.

Fortunately, it is not like this in Denmark. You earn respect by working. It is not important what you do, as long as it brings money. You also earn respect by not mooching from the state. Social state is there to catch you when you need it, it should not be treated as a source of free money. If you climb up the social ladder, added benefits that come with it will be something you get for yourself and it will be expected that you do not rub them in other people faces because of the Jante law rule: "You are not better then any of us."

One side-effect of this approach is that, on the street you can't tell a difference between rich and the poor. They all wear the same, funeral ready clothes and ride the same crappy bikes that look like they will fall apart now. While the differences between rich and the poor exists, they are not visible and people with lower income jobs will be earning enough to have a decent living standard. Working poor is not acceptable in Denmark.

Danish society is far from perfect but their working ethics is something to aspire to. And trust me, garbage man are earning a lot of money for the work they do and nobody is avoiding them like they are irradiated.

Common courtesy in public

Last week I had an encounter, that reminded me of one thing that Danes are particularly bad at. They are bad at some basic common courtesy to others in public spaces. I will immediately say that I am not generalizing but just describing my experiences that repeated at least couple of times. It is funny that I am writing about this, since I was the one who was considered a bit rude with some of my behaviors in public spaces back in Croatia. But on the other hand, maybe that gives some weight to my observations. If my basic levels of politeness in public is low and I repeatedly observe behavior in public spaces that is too much even for me, then maybe there is something to it.

Walking on the right side of the sidewalk

This is one of those very basic things that strike me like Danes don't get. On main train station in Copenhagen you even have arrows showing the directions that instructs people in which way to walk after they get off the train and it is in line with the rule "walk on the right side of the street". I guess if it needs to be drawn it obviously isn't something a lot of people know. First time I noticed this social peculiarity was before the corona times, back in the day when the trains were crowded and people rude. I was walking on the right side of the sidewalk and I had to do a 90 degree blind turn into the corner. As I was doing that I almost walked straight into a person who was trying to do the same but he was walking on his left side of the sidewalk, just as the whole group of people that just got of the train. And none of them cared that I can't walk straight. After that one event I started paying attention to that and I figured out that a lot of Danes don't quite grasp the concept but interestingly enough, foreigners do.

Shopping

Shopping often feels like a battle for survival. Usually in Denmark, personal space is a bit bigger than in Croatia, but not in the supermarkets. If you are taking your sweet time while browsing through the wares and there is someone who wants the same thing as you do, they will just but in, shove you to the side, take what they want and go without looking back or apologizing. I guess, I don't need to mention that the ware in question isn't the last one in the store.

Waiting in line for the cash register always feels like the store is about to close down and people behind you will not be able to pay before that happens and they will loose all the things they wanted to buy. They stand so close that you can feel them breathing down your necks. If you forgot, by any chance, to put down the separator, you are in for a treat. They will take it, slam it as close as possible to your stuff and a give you a passive-aggressive look that screams: "You will not do this again!"

Going to guests

Dinners in Danish households are very cozy, no doubts about that, but they can be a bit glitchy at the start. It takes some time for coziness to kick in. When you arrive for a dinner, most often, you will be invited into the house/apartment but after that you will not be invited into the kitchen/living room or any other place in the house/apartment where the dinner is taking place. Often I found myself standing uncomfortably at the entry to the apartment and waiting for something to happen. When that part would pass and we would be invited to the room where the dinner is taking place some time would pass before you would be offered a beverage. Sometimes, my mouth started to go seriously dry for an extended period of time so I had to ask for a drink before I was offered one. But after these starting glitches it goes into the cozy mode. After a couple of beers it goes very cozy :D. It seems like there are no social norms about how to act/proceed at the time people enter your house or the apartment.

P. S. When you are visiting a danish household for the first time, do not bring presents! It is considered impolite, unless you know their taste specifically.

Other public spaces

Some things that I was taught as a kid about how to be polite to other people when you are outside are just void in Denmark. In trains people will not get up and offer a seat to a pregnant women, a woman with a small child or an elderly person. Everybody just runs in to grab their seats and avoids further eye contact with anyone.

Couple of times I also experienced doors being slammed to my face when it was clear that I am going to the same entrance as the person in front of me. That person would acknowledge that by establishing eye contact and would still let the doors close straight in my face. I had the same experience with elevators. On numerous occasions I was approaching the elevator door and the person inside would just look me straight into the eyes and slam them shut. Like those two seconds that she would wait for me would be time lost that could never be replaced.

What I find very interesting is that the corona crisis rules actually regulated interactions in public spaces and made interactions with others much more pleasant. Keep the distance rule prevents a number of situations that I mentioned from ever happening. Finally there is a rule for behavior in public spaces that Danes can follow and they do take pride in obedience to their government. Before they were just completely lost in socially unregulated public spaces. Maybe Mette should consider keeping the rule in place even after the corona crisis passes, if only for interactions in public spaces outside of events. It will make for a much cozier experience in public.

The sun

It is difficult to explain the happiness you feel when you finally see the sun in Denmark, if you haven't experienced it personally. Danes go bonkers in the spring when the sun arrives. One guy even told me that it is ok to stop working and go for a bit of sunbathing. That is huge, coming from a Dane and their high working ethics. That happened last year at the end of March, it was the first sunny day after a long winter. Last year I found it funny, but this year I don't anymore, because I lived through the Danish fall and winter and they are hard, but that is difficult to imagine. You must go through it at least once. And it isn't because of the short days, it is because of the lack of sun. On the winter solstice, there is 7 hours of daylight, which is an hour and a half less then what I am used to. Day in Zagreb lasts for 8 and a half hours on winter solstice. But the sun went away last year with the first day of September and it didn't return until middle March. It was worst at the beginning. I remember I called my old neighbor on 20th of October and told her: "Can you believe, today is the first day after the beginning of September that I actually saw the sun?" There wasn't one day with any sun for a month and a half. It was horrible! It was just gray, grey and gray and rainy and grey without end. It was like living under a boring, uniformly grey cloud. No wonder that in Danish language the word "sky" means cloud. That really gets to you, but it creeps in slowly, you don't even notice it. One day, while I was raiding home from work, I caught myself thinking: "Can't these clouds go away just for one day? Why does it have to be cloudy all the time?"

And I was going like that from day to day and my mood kept getting worse and my back started to hurt more and more. Until I started having really depressing thoughts. At that point I started drinking vitamin D and through two weeks it got better. Vitamin D took the edge of.

This type of depression is different to the depression that you get when life smacks you on the head. It is a bit tricky to describe. I was happy with the way my life was going and still am but there was constantly some heaviness that was creeping in from somewhere and I couldn't pinpoint where does it stem from. When I started taking vitamin D, it became easier. The heaviness vanished and the only thing that stayed was the longing for the sun. And that went away in the middle of March when the sun returned after a long winter slumber.

The other day I was talking to my girlfriends father about it and he told me the story where it hit him especially hard. He is working as an electrician and one winter they were working in the basement of a building. The thing was that when they entered the basement, they had to walk a long way in order to reach their workplace. The walk was so long that for the lunch break, they didn't go outside but they just had it in the basement. He worked through winter like this. He hadn't seen the sun in months because he would arrive to work in the morning, before the sunrise, spend the daytime in the basement and go home at night. That year he said was awful. It got him so hard, he was barely able to get up in the morning and get going. After work he was worth nothing. He was only capable of staring at the TV and nothing more.

So, the lack of sun during wintertime is a serious issue in Denmark and the only thing that can offset it a bit is vitamin D. And trust me, the fact that quarantine went into effect at the same time the sun returned to Denmark, is a proper little tragedy. Now that the sun is out, few people can enjoy it. I think that will hit a lot of people hard. The worst case scenario would be that quarantine rules are in effect while the sun is up and that they lift when the sun retires behind the clouds in the fall. That would be a serious problem indeed, let us hope it will not come to that.

Loneliness

Stand together by being apart. That is the promotional statement by which Denmark is trying to promote social distancing. But the more time passes the more skeptical I am becoming about how long can that actually be upheld. Because it is going against one fundamental human instinct and that is sociability. We are social animals and that is a fact. If you look back way into the past, way back before modern society, early civilizations, even before agriculture, humans lived in small groups with up to approximately 150 people. So, I guess it is safe to say, metaphorically, that being social is written into our DNA. And today we are being asked not to do it. Today, when we took our social instincts to unprecedented levels, where approximately 55% of human population lives in cities we are asked not to hang out with others. The reasons are completely justified, I do not doubt that for a second. I am just wondering how long we can keep it up? Asking people to do social distancing is not so far away from asking a fish not to swim.

This line of thought started yesterday when my girlfriends sister dropped by. It was the first human I have seen, other then my girlfriend in weeks, if I don't count work and public transport. And I can feel that it is getting to me and my social needs are low. I am an introvert who is perfectly happy with socializing one or two times per week, three times is pushing it and four times is too much. If I am starting to feel it, I can only imagine how difficult it must be for people with higher social needs than mine. Yesterday I talked to a friend who has higher social needs than I do. He told me that when it gets to him, he goes to company offices to have a cup of coffee, but that just gets the edge off. He is having a hard time not hanging out with people.

At least gamers have it easier. We know there are social spaces that are perfectly safe and quarantine approved, where we can be social and where we can play in big groups without breaching the quarantine. I do find it a bit ironic. Until my mid twenties, I would often hear from non gamers: how can you do it, you are just staring in that screen all day, you are wasting your life away etc, etc. Do I need to mention that most of the people at that time were watching television in the same amount I spent gaming? Well, now I am the responsible citizen. So, if you want to hang out with me and be socially responsible, you can find me on Azeroth.

I made a little digression... Let us go back to "real" socializing. How long can you ask born socialites not to socialize? I would say not much longer. And you can slowly tell. Last Friday when I went out to throw the trash, main street in Roskilde was decently full of people. There wasn't as many of them as before the quarantine times but noticeably more. Weather is beautiful, quarantine is up for some time now, of course that people started to slowly give up on it. They just can't take it any more. And people from Scandinavia are good at following rules and regulations and they trust in their governments. So when they are slowly starting to give in, you know it has been a bit too long.

But as societies slowly start to reopen, one problem will still remain, at least in Denmark. Ban on public gatherings for 10 or more people will stay at least until August. So we will be able to see our friends and family but all fun will be put on hold. So we will be able to work and be home and see people one by one but no fun? How long will that last? We are not machines that can just work, work, work. Even Danes need recreational activities from time to time. Their amazing working ethics is necessarily standing in stark contrast to hygge. They will kill themselves working but when they are of, they are off. With a ban on public gatherings way into August will severely restrict their possibilities to be off. In the old Rome it was known that if you want to win public approval you need to provide bread and circus "Panem et circenses". By the time this whole corona thing is over, a lot of people will lose their bread and circuses will remain closed until further notice. We do not have a lot to look forward to, until the end of summer. Work if you are lucky and... nothing, no fun until corona is done and dusted and that can take a while.

Use the elbow

Train rides during quarantine. At the beginning it was a bit spooky. In the course of 5 days, train that starts in Roskilde at 7:40 in the morning, went from completely packed to completely empty. So empty that one day last week there were only two of us that got of the train at Copenhagen central station. On a usual day it takes a couple of minutes for all the people to get of the train.
 

What I find interesting is that the few people who ride the train are acting differently - and I don't mean quarantine differently -  I mean, differently. On an average train ride, bike compartment is full and everybody is absorbed in their own business. Be it smartphone, book, laptop, telephone. Interaction with other people is non existent and communication is reduced to essentials only. That includes people with bikes when they need to park their bikes one on top of the other. At these moments will a person that parks her bike on top of the first one ask "Where are you getting of?" Other than that, it is non-existent. People don't even look at you. That's it! In the train, full of people, that is all the communication you will get.
 

Since the quarantine started, other passengers became much more welcoming. One day I noticed that the people who were in the wagon with me, from time to time would throw me a quick glance and gave me a warm smile. I was completely taken aback with it. I was just doing my train ride, Danish style, reading a book and I started getting glances. When I got home, I consulted with my domestic expert on Danish behavior. She said that what most likely happened is that Danes started to feel solidarity. It is quarantine times and not a lot of people is using the trains. Those few that do, started to develop the notion"we are in this together". I must say, I totally didn't see that one coming because for me it was just another train ride. Plus, it's not like I am seeing people often in the train, on most days I am the only person in the wagon.
 

But one time, when I had a fellow passenger, it was pure gold. I was going home from work. When I entered my bike section, there was an elderly lady inside with her bitchin' electric bike. She was also in great shape, you could see that she is exercising a lot. It became apparent very early into the train ride that she isn't an experienced train rider. When the lady that is checking tickets came, they got into a long discussion about the old lady's ticket. The conductor had a lot of work with explaining to her, how it is working. When that event was over, I heard her talking on the phone, reporting that she is in the train and that she will soon be in Roskilde. Plus she had that vibe around her that was screaming, "OMG I AM SOOO EXCITED WITH THIS TRAIN RIDE!!!!" I am not sure was it because she is usually inexperienced with train rides, or is this train ride extra exciting because it is a corona train ride.
 

The train went past Trekkroner, which means that we will be in Roskilde in about 5 minutes. She got up immediately as the train left the station and started to get ready for disembarking. She corrected her bike clothes and gloves, took her bike and stood in front of the doors ready to jump out. But in these corona times it is not so easy to get of the train, as she is about to find out.
 

When the train stops, if you want the doors to open, you need to press a button. That is something that people usually do with fingers but now a days there is the instruction to use the elbow. The train is passing next to the graveyard and our train ride hero is at a ready. She is at the door with her palm on the shoulder and elbow sticking out ready to lunge for the button at the split second the train stops. The train is entering the station, she is all arched towards the door so the elbow can hover just a few inches from the button. When the train stops she is in the perfect position to jump the button... or elbow it and get off the train.
 

The moment came. The train stopped. The button is ready to be pressed. She lunges for it, as the bike was in the way, her arched out body and the hovering elbow were still a bit too far so she raised herself on her toes, closed the elbow gap and smashed the button AND... nothing, the doors are still closed, but now she is standing normally. Doesn't matter, elbow at a ready, arch forward, raise on the toes and smash the button triumphantly for the second time AND nothing. Disappointment and disbelief started to creep in. The train is on the station for full ten seconds and she is still on it. No matter, this little bump will not prevent her. She notices another button on her right hand side and decides that is the one button to open the doors. She is ready again, elbow, arch, toes, smash, nothing, smash, nothing. Despair, full twenty seconds passed, she elbowed two buttons, four times and she is still in the train. Desperate times require desperate measures. She goes for it again, but this time with a clenched fist. She will smash the button with a fist, with the cykeling glove so she doesn't touch the corona train button with her unprotected finger. BUM! Nothing, the doors are still closed and by this time the whole eternity passed. She is disheartened by now. You can see she is giving up. Slowly you can see the fist relaxes, naked thump rears out its finger nail and gently goes for the button... and the button abides. Hiss of air flies through the wagon and our brave hero is finally free. The fight was long and hard and she gave her best, but failed. At least she will disembark in Roskilde and live to see another day with her coronated finger.

For our own benefit

Corona crisis shows just how fragile our modern day democracy and economy is, since it can be severely disrupted by a simple virus. Since it started countries slowly implemented limitations in many areas of our lives, for our own benefit. When corona struck Italy, within a week, most of European countries closed the borders, making traveling almost impossible, except in case of emergencies.

Freedom of movement within the countries became severely restricted as well as quarantine measures have kicked into effect. Public and state institutions closed down, most of the stores closed, people instructed to work from home if possible. Almost everything that isn't necessary for the minimal function of the society was put on hold, for our own benefit. Corona virus is here and we need to cut the lines of transmission, so we can put a stop to it.

Currently a lot of European countries declared emergency situation which means that the governments are ruling by the decree and have no real opposition because all are united in the goal of fighting the virus. That way, making decisions is a lot faster and more efficient, which is needed in these days if we want to put a end to the pandemic. Putting the democracy on pause isn't something the governments did willingly or lightly but they did it for our own benefit.

Sports events canceled, any form of public events canceled, like festivals, markets, conferences, religious ceremonies. All public protests are canceled and banned because we need to stop the virus from spreading, remember it is all for our own benefit.

The measures I have listed are pretty much standard measure implemented across Europe to fight the corona-virus from spreading. Some measures are unique for certain countries.

Serbia implemented a curfew, from 17 in the afternoon to morning and from Friday evening to Monday morning. Dog owners can go out for a walk with their dogs only between 23 o'clock in the evening and 1 o'clock in the morning.

Croatia banned commuting outside the place of residence, which is a direct breach of the Croatian constitution.

Hungary implemented a law that states that the quarantine can be lifted only with 2/3 majority vote in parliament which basically translates into, if Victor Orban doesn't wont the quarantine lifted it won't be lifted.

Denmark implemented a law by which they can take away private property from its owner if it is needed to fight of the corona crisis and they executed it. They have seized private hospitals in order to get access to their medical equipment. They also made it possible to ban gatherings of 2 or more people if needed, because Danish minister of health noticed that people have been naughty with upholding the quarantine. Danish state may be forced to put it into effect, for our own benefit.

Soon after the pandemic started WHO asked big international IT companies to help them out in a fight against misinformation about the Corona virus, so they started to filter out misinformation on the virus, for our own benefit.

I do not try to bring into question the reality or the severity of the Corona crisis, the world is fighting a pandemic and measures need to be taken. What is worrying is the ease with which human rights, modern democracy and economy are all being put on pause during the time of the pandemic. What is also worrying how everybody is calling for the restrictions to be put into place. There is one European country that is trying to fight of the virus without infringing on human rights and democracy and they are being criticized that they are not doing enough or that they are not taking the pandemic seriously enough. The country in question is Sweden.

What other measures that infringe on our rights will be implemented, for our own benefit? Will the countries also help WHO in the fight against the spread of misinformation by censoring the private media, for our own benefit?

Will we end up locked up in our apartments because we took a walk? Croatia is on a good trajectory, even now the police is chasing people back to their apartments if they see them on the streets?

Will kissing, hugging or any other form of close human contact become illegal and not just advised against?

If you think I am blowing everything out of proportions, think about what your life looked like 8 moths ago and ask yourself: did you expect it to look like this today?

If 2 years go by and you wake up one morning in April 2022 with your doors sealed shut, government officials bringing you food, after you haven't seen anyone for 6 months, just tell yourself that all the baby steps that led to this situation, that all made sense when they were brought into effect in order to fight the virus, were all implemented for our own benefit.

Closing the borders by keeping them open

Danish prime minister yesterday, 30th March, had a press-conference. She announced that businesses should start making plans for reopening. The plan, for now, is to slowly start reopening society after 13th of April. I will remain skeptical until it actually happens since I got different information from different countries. When quarantine started in Germany, their government said it will last until approximately middle of June. In Italy approximately until the end of July.

But there was one funny, real life news closely related to corona crisis. When it started, in order to prevent/reduce the spread of the virus, Denmark decided to close down its borders. When danish prime minister announced that, I understood there will be no flights in or outside Denmark, no ferry lines going in or out of Denmark and that the police will stop you and ask you to turn around if you try to drive out of Denmark because the borders are closed. Little did I know how far away from the truth I was. When Denmark closed its borders they actually kept them wide open because they are closed. And no, you didn't read this wrong, that is how it is when it comes to closing down the land border.

Three Danish citizens got stuck in Brazil when European countries started putting up quarantines. Somehow they managed to board a plane to Germany. From there they started on their way to Denmark. They wanted at least try and return home, since they knew that the borders were closed. When they reached the border between Germany and Denmark, they were in for a surprise. Nobody was there! Ramps were down but that was it. Since they had no other intentions but to go back home they were looking around and trying to find someone to check them in but, no one was there. They were also looking for any contact number so they could call the police but they couldn't find any either. After some time they gave up, made a video of their little adventure and just walked into the country without anyone noticing. This is how it looked like: https://nyheder.tv2.dk/lokalt/2020-03-27-kaldte-forgaeves-efter-graensevagter-og-endte-med-bare-at-gaa-over-graenserne?fbclid=IwAR06GgUjnJSBhBKVq3qJGGqp-gWnzjg9T2gXMmzs4L3w5adA62v_yuPFutg

After their story and video got into the news, police released the official statement. They basically said that since the lock-down began they decided to withdraw personnel from all border crossings except three, where they are still controlling heavy traffic and any other necessary traffic to and from Germany. All other border crossings are 'closed' and patrolled by one vehicle. After all, when the country closes down its borders and announces it, you would expect that people wouldn't even try to enter since the borders are closed. I must say that I naively thought that closing down the borders always meant that people who try to enter the country are turned away by the police, but little did I know.

I must say that this story came as a welcome comic relief from the whole corona crisis. Finding news that are not related to the corona crisis is next to impossible. It seems that the number of newly infected people started to drop slowly, at least in the last two days. Let us hope it continues that way. Three weeks down, who knows how many more to go - introvert heaven at its finest.