Most Important Day of the Year
I'm
writing this on October 26, and today makes 31 years Nora and I have
been married. I still wonder every day, how I managed to get so much
the better part of a deal. If you see her or talk with her, please
congratulate her on her enduring patience and tolerance.
We're Not in Kansas Anymore
One
recurring theme among newcomers to Panama is the idea that “This is the
way things should be, and I'm going to raise hell about it not being
that way”. It's a phase most of us expats go through, and we either get
over it or we go nuts and eventually leave. The way things “should be”
most often bears not even a faint resemblance to the way things are,
and there is nothing we can do about it. Case in point; For several
years there has been a more or less established procedure for arranging
for an after-hours vet on standby at the airport. By following this
procedure, which involves a modicum of preparation of paperwork and an
off-the-books payment to the vet, folks arriving after official working
hours could spare their pets an overnight stay at the airport.
That
procedure is not codified in law, or written into policy. It provides,
for the vets, what is known locally as a “cameron” (shrimp), or bonus
income. It works best if you also hire a local expediter who knows all
the ins and outs. Those little details are what can drive you stark
raving bonkers in Panama, because they seem to change with the weather,
the massiveness of traffic jams, or the severity of the hangover
whichever clerk you are talking to is experiencing. That's why the
expediter can be so important.
OK,
any system which is so flexible is bound to suffer a kink now and then.
Somebody forgets to deliver a message. The vet stops at a bar to have a
drink and meets up with an old flame. The flight is 3 hours late. The
opportunities for a screw-up are almost endless. Whatever, something
goes wrong and the vet isn't there when Mr and Ms Newexpat arrive with
Lassie. They've arrived in Paradise after 60 years of living in a
country where the rules are clearly defined, and recourse is available
when the rules are violated. So, quite naturally, one or both decide to
complain to the vet's boss. Never mind that the worst case scenario is
that one or both of the Newexpats will spend the night in the arrival
area so their pet won't be alone, and I understand why folks would do
that. One of our friends did, and aside from a less than pleasant
night, no one was the worse for wear.
Anyway,
someone complained to the vet's boss that he charged them for being
there after hours, so now to cover himself, if you want his service
after official hours you will have to file a signed letter requesting
after-hours service, and stating that you understand you will be
charged extra for that service. Before you go getting all indignant
about another brick in the wall of bureaucracy, remember that the boss
could simply have decreed that from now on, there will be no exceptions
to official procedure.
Fortunately,
for those who understand and accept the way things are, there are
always work-arounds to the nuttiness that comes out of the Legislative
Palace in the form of laws. Please, tell your friends not to gum up the
works by insisting on following the official rules, and/or filing
official complaints. That doesn't mean you shouldn't complain if
someone has used their position to rip you off. This is just about the
normal, everyday chaos that seems to rule here.
Yahoo Groups – Have they outlived their usefulness?
I placed the following ad in several of the Yahoo Panama groups.
For Sale
1999
Chrysler Stratus for sale - Excellent condition, A/C, automatic, good
tires, low mileage, duty paid. $3200.00 OBO. Contact
henry@panamaretire.net or call 6641-8422. This car belongs to my
daughter in law, who is taking my youngest granddaughter back to Idaho.
If I thought they would stay until the car is sold, I wouldn't
advertise it. See pictures at
http://www.panamaretire.net/4sale/chrysler/index.html
It was replied to almost immediately on one of the groups with the following post;
This
is a DODGE not a Chrysler,, remember in
buying a 9 yr old car,,,,, a car
that there are not many others like it in
Panama,,,Parts are or will be soon difficult
to get & also check the
www.autotrader.com for the price this car is
selling for in USA,,,,Please remember
this car was built for surburban driving
in USA not the Rough & Tough
roads of Panama,,,be careful, fellow members,,, bill
Bill
doesn't know anything about this car, nor does he know me. He
apparently doesn't know anything about Panama either, if he believes
cars sell for the same price in Panama as in the US. He doesn't know
that the Dodge Stratus was sold outside the US as the Chrysler Stratus.
He doesn't know that this car was sold new in Panama, not imported from
the US. He doesn't know that parts for older US cars are relatively
cheap and easy to find in Panama.
It
turns out that Bill sells cars for a local importer, and frequents the
groups trying to hustle business. In a later post, Bill offers
Chevrolet SSR pickups to Panama buyers, indicating that Bill doesn't
know diddly about the Panama car market either, where 390 horsepower
retro-styled pickup roadsters aren't exactly in high demand.
Bill
is apparently not alone, as there seem to be more than a few hucksters
trolling the Yahoo Panama groups. Just a couple of years ago, they were
an excellent resource for people wanting “from-the-horse's-mouth”
information about Panama. Nowadays, you need to sift the advice you get
from them with a very fine-mesh sifter.
Quite
aside from the folks like Bill, who will attempt to trash someone
else's sale in hopes of gaining one himself, there are lots of
well-meaning new arrivals who simply don't fully understand that
they're not in Kansas anymore. The big topic lately has been getting
the new digital driver's license, and almost every day brings a new
post advising everyone that 'THIS is what you have to do to get a new
license, because I just did it today'. Almost as often the described
procedure differs from the procedure described by someone else
yesterday. I can't say this often enough, folks; In Panama, today's
apple pie may be tomorrow's meadow muffin.