Observations on Tbilisi and Ranting

Let’s just say that I’m having a crap week already and hopping that it gets better. As I’m typing this I’m waiting on a guy to come install my Internet that was supposed to be here on Saturday. It’s Monday. I’m still waiting. Due to a number of things my mood has gone from light to dark and I just hope that by sitting down and doing a little reflexive thinking I’ll be able to snap myself out of it. I hope to write some more about what’s going on here in Tbilisi and with my school, but that’ll have to wait for another day.

So there are a ton of advantages to living in Tbilisi rather than the village. Duh; Right? But I thought I would list a few of them just to show some contrast and hope for a few laughs along the way. However, not all is as it was in the village. There are a few disadvantages. Also, I would like to have a small rant about customer service (or lack thereof) here in The Republic of Georgia. So that’s pretty much what this blog post is about. Not to spoil anything for you, but that’s what it is. I’ll also drop a couple of pictures in here as well. Enjoy!

Advantages to living on my own in the city:
- When I shut the door I have no stress, no noise and no kids. It’s just me. Ahhh…
- I wake up to an alarm. Not an hour before my alarm to livestock and screaming kids, I wake up to an alarm. Never thought that would be an advantage to anything, but it is.
- When I’m hungry, I eat. When I’m not hungry, I don’t eat. Amazing!
- I walk to work on paved streets. I take the metro two stops then walk, but when I do I’ve yet to accidentally step in or even have to walk around any fecal matter.
- It doesn’t stink. There isn’t that constant mixture in the air of wood smoke, gasoline, blood (yes blood from slain animals) and shit.
- My school is insulated. In fact, it’s been a little warm in there. Good thing we have windows that open and aren’t nailed shut. Also, all of our windows have glass in them.
- I’m not forced to drink alcohol and toast to things I don’t care about; EVERY NIGHT!
- I sleep in a bed not held together with chicken wire.
- I can eat breakfast and have real coffee. Hell, I can even cook breakfast at night if I want.
- Toilet.
- Shower.
- Hot water.
- Lights.

Disadvantages:
- People on the sidewalks and in public transportation. What is so hard about walking either in a straight line or not knocking into someone when there is plenty of room to go around?
- I don’t have an army of women around to cook and clean up. That’s my job now. (Not really a bad thing, but they did come in handy from time to time).
- Lack of anything resembling a line anywhere.
- Lack of customer service (see below).
- No real sense of a community.

Well the rant that I’m about to go on should give you a small clue about some of my daily frustrations here. The main thing that I run into everyday is the complete and utter lack of anything resembling customer service. This summer I did a fair amount of shopping while I was home. The one thing that struck me every time I walked into a store was that it seemed like somebody was immediately up in my face trying to help me. Before I could even look around there was somebody there saying hello and asking what they could do for me. My initial response was, ‘nothing, now go away.’ Oh how I wish I could have those people back now.

On my way home from either the metro station or the bus stop there are about 10 shops that all sell pretty much the exact same products at the exact same price. How does one choose which to go into? Here it really just comes down to which shop keeper is the nicest to you. Because, you can walk in and either get the ‘eat shit and die’ look as if you have just disturbed the most important thing that person was doing in their entire life or you get a simple ‘I’m ignoring you’ glance. Now, none of them will just greet you right off the bat, but a few of them will return your greeting. That’s right you, as the customer, need to be nice to them if you plan on getting anything. (A lot of products are behind the counter here and you have to ask for them. It’s not just walking in, grabbing what you want and paying for it).

You see most of the people that work in these shops are not the shop owners and are paid pretty much next to nothing for sitting there all day so they really could care less how much business they do or whether or not you ever come back to their store. You as the customer have to literally ‘shop around’ for the shop you want to use. It’s not just a matter of location it’s a matter of who is going to treat you with some common courtesy and respect. I’ll walk at least five minutes out of my way to get to a shop with good people working there. And, five minutes may not sound like a lot but in that five minutes I’m liable to pass at least five other shops that have the product I’m looking to buy.

This is not news to anyone in Georgia. It just seems strange to me because of my Western viewpoint. If say there were 10 BestBuys in your town. They all have the same thing and all have the same prices. You would go to the one that has the best customer service or is simply closer to your house right? Sure. Even better you could shop for the items online and just have them shipped to your house and avoid the hassle all together right? Sure. That’s the main reason I shop at larger ‘super markets’ here in Tbilisi for my basic products. I can walk up and grab what I need, not have to ask anyone to get it for me from behind the counter and then just go to the checkout girl and pay her. No hassle.

I guess my main question is why, if all those small shops have the same products at pretty much the same price, don’t they try to distinguish themselves with something like customer service? It has to be more than the low wage of the worker because even when you do go into one with a store owner present, you still get sneers. It’s not even a foreign concept. Go to the fruit and vegetable section of any local bazaar and you’ll literally see 15-20 stalls lined up next to each other all selling the exact same things. They will shout out to you and smile even just to get you to come to their stall and buy their fruit. They’ll haggle prices with you and throw in extras just so that you’ll come back to them in the future. These people see firsthand everyday what a little kindness can do for them and their business. That’s why I don’t understand the small shop owners. Hell even the people working behind the counters in the supermarkets are nicer and I’m sure they aren’t making that much more than the small shops.

Don’t even get me started on some of the waiters and waitresses here. There are certain restaurants that I will not go in ever again.

I hate the idea that I as the customer have to be nice just to get things done. I’m all for being polite and admitting to them that my Georgian is awful and that I need their help sometimes, but I should not have to go out of my way for them to get up off their stool and give a man a hand. Take the Internet company for example, if I call up and complain that the guy is now not only two days late he’s well over an hour later than he said he would be when he called me earlier today, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t even get here today because I would have caused more ‘hassle’ for them.

They say a little kindness goes a long way, but that street goes both ways and I think the Georgian shop owners could use a little course in the art of kindness. I’m just sayin’.

Well, it’s only two hours later and the guy has me up and running, so I guess I’m good to go. Internet. How I love you.