The praise of chaos

The Romanian philosopher Andrei Plesu writes in the daily Adevărul that Romanians tend to look yearningly to other countries which they believe to be more "civilised" and where things function punctually. "Germany's order! Buses and trains that arrive exactly on time, ... people standing in orderly queues at airports for taxis whose drivers won't cheat you, in which no one gets all worked up and no one calls the government names or curses their fate. Order. Welfare. Directness. Tradition. No adventurousness, nothing to strain your nerves and health. By comparison Romania looks like it belongs to a different species. Improvised, ... everything left to chance. This is our chaos. Our antidote to boredom. ... Order is good, but this does not apply to all areas equally. When people in Italy and France (not in Germany or Austria) get hungry between 3 and 7 p.m. they can't find a decent restaurant that's open. You can drink a coffee in a bistro, or eat a sandwich, but a proper meal - that's out of the question. I can't understand this time plan, this invitation to diet. ... In short: things are better here in Romania. True, everything is somewhat arbitrary, but you can always count on getting a decent bowl of soup, even between mealtimes."

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