I went to my car company for the yearly revision, and to change winter tyres to summer ones. As I was waiting for my turn, an elderly gentleman was talking to the receptionist while the latter was preparing the invoice. The elderly man was talking about politics, precisely the political situation in our neighbouring country, France. The receptionist was listening to him with great patience, and from time to time he nodded his head with approval. The discussion also focused on the harsh economic situation created by the recent outbreak of clashes in the Middle East, of course there is no subject these days that does not start or end with this alarming situation.
Another employee who is Portuguese said you should come and see the situation in Portugal. People with low salaries find it very hard to make ends meet, and more than ever before public transport has become the norm. People cannot afford petroleum prices anymore. According to this person, it looks more and more like the Indian buses and trains, where you have to push one foot in to be able to put the second in. Honestly, I have never heard about such a situation in this part of the world.
When the service time for my car took longer than anticipated, and the showroom was quiet, the vendor offered me some coffee. We continued to chat. This time we talked about the long periods of waiting in the emergency room of our national hospitals. With all the available funds here, it seems the problem of congested emergency rooms is far from being resolved. The wait can go up to five hours, even before a doctor attends to you. Unfortunately, I had the displeasure of being in there a couple of times.
The first time, I almost lost my thumb that was full of infection, but I was given only an antibiotic, too little too late. The next day, I found my way to another hospital. I was told that a few more hours later, my thumb would have been amputated!
I remember the first time we walked the hallways of Mulago Hospital’s emergency department. My head was spinning from horror. People were lying on the floor, on both sides of the corridor. Waiting in pain. The view is not much different here, except maybe for the hygiene standards that are quite good, and a few chairs and benches for the patients.
There are so many stereotypes about Europe. Some people still think that some of us walk out every morning and pick money bills that grow on trees! There are indeed some systems in place to protect people, health insurance, and pension plans, but all that comes with hard work, and again, it depends on which country you live in. For example, in Greece, pension allocations were reduced because of the bad economic situation. So, many plans of having a comfortable retirement evaporated, just like that!
In a country such as Luxembourg, I can confirm that the refugees whose status was approved and who could bring along their families under the scheme of family reunion are indeed benefiting from the government’s help. To a degree that some do not feel the urge to work anymore! However, they too have to find a place to live once they leave their camp. Sometimes it is easy, many times it’s not, I hope that their dreams of reaching the Promised Land don’t turn into a nightmare!