Argentine Mysteries

[John.St]

You can say the same of the U.S. it is not just the Political System it is also the Culture. 3 times more muder than any other country in the World.

As for murder rate, the US is on the level of (actually slightly below) Argentina and positioned somewhere in the middle of all countries - 25 years ago the US had a "leading position" with 30,000 homicides by firearms alone, but that has changed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_murder_rate

There are also good sides to the culture and Argentina.

There are so many things I love about Argentina and the Argentinos - or I wouldn't be here.

 

[olynor]

Going back to subway escalators always(?) going down in BsAs. Just try to find an escalator going up whole two levels after exiting B,D,F or M train on Herald Square in New York City. We might have to put the NYC in the same category as BsAs, brothers

 

[Jvanka]

The inefficiency its just a sintoma who left the 2001 socio-economic crisis, when the hell you all gonna understand ???.... I would like to see your countrys cross by the same and I'll point their people defects!

Please! many things don't have anything to do with the crash, we had may other in the past, so blame on one factor is not wise. I could probably see that young people never saw a crisis before so they may think that 2001 was the end of the world; but guess what, you can visit a library or google Argentina history.

 

[tomdesigns]

As for murder rate, the US is on the level of (actually slightly below) Argentina and positioned somewhere in the middle of all countries.

I should have clearified that with the words Developed Countries.

http://www.netwellness.org/healthtopics/domesticv/violenceUS.cfm

 

[John.St]

I should have clearified that with the words Developed Countries.

http://www.netwellness.org/healthtopics/domesticv/violenceUS.cfm

That makes sense, except this is the 25 year old data I mentioned (31,000 homicides).

In 2009 the total number of Murder and non-negligent manslaughter (FBI data) in the US was 15,241, or less than half the number in 1996. http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/data/table_01.html

But Argentina is (to me the strangest) mixture of first and third world (second world were the now defunct Sovjet Union + WAPA countries).

Everywhere in Argentina I encounter definite first world attitudes and places, and (much more often) third world ditto.

Please don't read the following:
This is one of the things I love about the country - never a dull moment - one is always struggling to solve the daily problems and suddenly a first world Argentino shows up, help solving them and spoils the fun.

 

[John.St]

The worst example of ridiculous numbers of employees standing around not doing anything -- Garbarino. Typically will have about 15 employees who all stand around chatting with each other and then get annoyed to have to leave the conversation because a customer actually wants some help. Usually rather than helping you, the first one you talk to will pawn you off to some other guy saying it's not their department (despite the fact that you asked about air conditioners and they are leaning up against one of them), and you'll get the run around to 1 or 2 other guys until someone can actually be bothered to help you out. Oh and then when you make the purchase you'll still have to deal with 1-2 more at the caja and then go over to pick up your purchase in a separate area, dealing with yet another 1-2 people.

Very interesting read - again one of the great differences between BsAs and the provinces.

In Garbarino Mendoza (+ any similar shop), unless everybody is busy attending to clients, you are met by a salesperson asking what you are looking for, following you around in the shop, showing you the desired articles and telling you prices, ending by closing the sale. Then of course you have to go to the storage to get your merchandize.

Perhaps - just a guess - the salespersons in Mendoza are paid a percentage of sales, while they are not in BsAs?
- or it may be due to the general mentallity in the provinces?

In Mendoza you never enter or leave a shop without employee or owner greeting you with "buenas tardes", "hola que tal?" resp. "se vaya bien", "hasta luego" or "adios" also if you didn't buy anything.

PS: I know BsAs - that's why I never go there unless I absolutely must - loathe the place.

 

[John.St]

Or my favorite - the supermarket. There are approximately 487547 employees working there yet you have to bag your own groceries

Try Carrefour, Átomo, Aldea, Jumbo, ... Mendoza where they always bag your groceries (perhaps to get you out of the line fast?)

 

[tomdesigns]

Please don't read the following:
This is one of the things I love about the country - never a dull moment - one is always struggling to solve the daily problems and suddenly a first world Argentino shows up, help solving them and spoils the fun.

What really refreshes me is this...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I work with freelancers here and I know a few 20 something's here from good families. They work like machines and you can set your watches by them. They are smart, hard working, intelligent and very sincere and more than that humble and good natured. Very very impressive..

These are the very rare exceptions, but I know a few of them. What impresses me the most about them is that some how they have been produced in the midst of this 3rd world disaster.. but all you have to do look at the family that produced them. And some of them came out of very very poor families but they worked what little opportunity they had in the public schools to point where they are world class talents.

 

[John.St]

I work with freelancers here and I know a few 20 something's here from good families. They work like machines and you can set your watches by them. They are smart, hard working, intelligent and very sincere and more than that humble and good natured. Very very impressive..

These are the very rare exceptions, but I know a few of them.

My oldest Argentino friend is of the same model, met him because he wanted to learn about my country and work .

Starting from the humblest possible background (family with five children in a two-room shed in Chubut countryside) he never passes a pile of trash without checking it for books or interesting magazines like National Geographic, a FAO report, whatever, to gain more knowledge.

Now he has a modest but neat house, always improving it - paint here, fixing a wall there, new furniture shows up one at a time, lately bought a computer, got internet access, improving his mind all the time and now thinking about buying a car to get further afield looking for business opportunities.

Like I wrote in an earlier post: One third of the Latinoamericanos are different from the rest, who are still the poor, poor victims of a colonization that ended almost 200 years ago. The 'one third' people are the future.

 

[theargie]

I just hope you don't think all of us argentines agree with Brigadier's statements. However he somehow reflects one of the main reasons why Argentina, even though it has lots of resources available, still remains a 3rd world country. It seems to be a cultural issue around here to blame others instead of thinking about what we did wrong to end up where we are, plan a solution, implement it and improve it. But no... it is extremely usual down here to see parents go to the schools with complains to the principal blaming the teacher for the "F" grade their son got on the test. So according to them, it wasnt the kid's fault for not studying, it was the teacher who did not teach him properly. And then the teacher could also blame the government for not paying him a decent salary, stating that as the reason why he goes to class demotivated. And its all a game of blaming others... the illegal bolivianos that use our public hospitals, the "cartoneros", some even blame a TV show! Maybe some day this will change.