Wordsley, Stourbridge, England: 5 degrees, chilly, sunny with a clear blue sky.
Today, I only have two classes, one at 7:00 am Brazilian time, which was cancelled 1/4 of an hour before the class, and the other at 6:00 pm Brazilian time, which is 9:00 pm here in England on a Friday.
If it were 20 years ago, I would never have contemplated giving a class at 9:00 pm on a Friday. However, age, humility, and poverty take a toll over the years. Now I am thankful for what I have, and it would be understandable if I were not very professional or disciplined. But in the present economic scenario, I cannot be too choosy.
Today has been a beautiful, sunny day with blue skies and no clouds whatsoever, but it’s still bitterly cold. The kind of cold that you feel in your bones. When I sometimes walk in the street and see people not wearing a coat or just Bermuda shorts, I wonder how they can bear the cold. Certainly, their bodies have grown accustomed to it. I have only been back in England for just over two months, and I feel that I have got used to the cold to a certain extent.
What was unbearable before, in terms of low temperatures, is now acceptable and normal for me, not to the point of seeing people walking around with only a few layers of clothing, as if it were summer or spring. Still, I’m getting more resilient and stronger to the adverse cold English weather.
In the morning, I did my now principal duties, that is, almost as if I am in autopilot mode, which are:
- Make the bed when I get up-always.
- Wash, shower-always.
- Do exercise-always.
- Make myself a drink.
- Check if anything needs to be done around the house.
- Review and post a new blog post for ‘The long gringo’.
- Make an entry in my journal like exactly now.
- Go for a walk, feed the ducks and swans.
- Have a tea or a coffee at my café.
- If needed, go to the shops or supermarket and of course,
- Give classes as always.
Today, I went along the canal and visited another glass museum nearby. I ended up walking in the wrong, unauthorised parts of the museum, as it is also a college for glassworking skills. The part that was out of bounds to the public for me was the most beautiful and interesting part of the whole place.
What I have noticed here is that everything appears to be done by the book; it doesn’t matter if it is right or wrong, good or bad, but you have to follow the rules, sometimes blindly and without asking questions. There seems to be no flexibility, sway, or possibility of negotiation in the culture; it is this way and that’s the way it is, and I’m very sorry if you don’t like it.
It seems, in some ways, little radical —a brainwashing where everybody has to follow that way, ignorantly, the rules, where nobody can doubt or confront the legitimacy of that procedure or protocol.
A bit like a donkey!
The Germans in the past had a reputation for being extremely methodical and repetitive in their work, without questioning at all. This approach, combined with gradual and tried-and-tested evolution, has enabled them to consistently produce high-quality products over time, often surpassing those from other countries. A classic example of this is the car industry, with manufacturers such as Mercedes and BMW, but this can be seen in all aspects of German industry.
However, if they were asked to suddenly do something different from what they have been doing repetitively for such a long time, it would be a big shock for them, as if throwing a spanner in the works. Consequently, they would face a tsunami of doubts and procedures that are alien to their general day-to-day experience.
I get the impression that England and the English people have generally followed a similar path. Anything out of the usual routine, something not planned, requires a lot of thought before anything changes or is different from what they have been accustomed to for so long, and it’s very difficult for them to accept it.
The other extreme is Brazil. You will have laws on top of laws, and more regulations and rules and guidelines and even more procedures, but there is always a loophole, a window, a space where somebody wants to do their own thing, their own way, and fuck the rest, and they are always right. There is always an excuse for that new way, no matter how implausible it may be; it is still valid and can still be used, and everybody has to accept it, and they are still right again.
Everybody has to be right, never wrong!
The entire Brazilian culture is based on improvisation due to a lack of funds and government support in all aspects of life in Brazil. If the government claims to be present, it’s usually in a superficial manner or form. A kind of superficial marketing, whitewashing marketing to clean their image, or the government is present, but much worse and inefficient, than if it were done privately. Many times, in Brazil, when the Brazilian government is included or present in such situations or areas, it makes the whole thing worse, not better.
I have lost count of how many times in Brazil they have had to improvise in medical treatment or even surgeries due to the state’s lack of funds and resources. This is not just limited to the health sector and system, but also affects all areas of Brazilian culture, society and its economy.
Of course, the ideal situation in any decent, relevant, and serious society is that its government would adopt a moderate stance, never an extreme or extremist one, as this is the best approach in almost every aspect of life. However, by combining the following and respecting rules with the ability to improvise when needed, any person, company, government, country, or other entity would outperform anything or anyone else and become unbeatable.
In the evening, I went out and bought fish and chips for my mother and me.
In bed by 10:30 pm.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please explore my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments section.
Richard
