Friday 13 June 2008

Mantenim la calma / Let Us Stay Calm

Per raons de negocis vaig passar uns dies a Suècia, i encara que tot el temps per mitjà de la xarxa vaig poder seguir les conseqüencies de la vaga dels transportistes, he de confessar que m’ha sorprengut la situació actual, avui quan he tornat.

Llegir sobre una manca de combustible no és el mateix com adonar-se que en necessites i veure que no n’hi ha. Ara bé, no he de queixar-me perquè encara hi ha hagut biodièsel a la meva gasolinera i per tant n'he pogut repostar tant com he volgut. El xoc al supermercat on fem totes petites compres ha estat més fort. La nevera on hi sol haver carn fresca s’havia posat fora de servei. A la cantonada on normalment trobem garrafas d’aigua no n’hi ha res de res. Pot ser estic oblidant d'algunes de les vagues a Suècia durant la meva infantesa però no em puc recordar mai haver vist coses similars. És a dir, sí que vaig veure botigues amb prestatges buits, però aquestes memòries venen dels viatges que feiem a Praga durant els anys de la dictatura comunista.

Fins i tot sóc content que els prestatges del nostre supermercat són buits ja que significa que els propietaris de les botigues esperen que tot en breu torni a la normalitat. A la República Txeca, o més correctement Txecoslovàquia d’aleshores no era així. El personal sabia que les manques podien durar molt de temps i intentaven tapar els forats amb altres productes. Deixem de banda l’impuls de comprar més que necesitem fins al día quan l’antic talell de carn s’ha convertit en un prestatge de mongetes conservades. Llavors sí que es pot justificar una mica de pànic.
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Due to a business project I had to go to Stockholm for some days and now feel a need to comment on the difference between picturing how something is and actually seeing it. During my trip I have had enough spare time to read the Internet versions of Catalan newspapers, so I knew that gas stations did not receive new supplies of fuel and I knew that shops were running out of fresh meat, fresh vegetables and water.

However, today when I came back I experienced the shortages by myself. I did not have any problem to fill up the car - true, the gas station was out of ordinary diesel, but I immediately accepted the (nowadays) equally environmentally dubious biofuel. My real shock came much later, when I saw the empty shelves of our local supermarket.

I guess that it says a bit about what a stable situation I have grown up in, but I cannot recall ever having seen anything similar in a market economy. The closest I have come to it were probably the shops in the Czech Republic during communism, when there could be meter after meter of obscure canned vegetables, as an attempt to conceal that more demanded produce had been sold out.

The transport sector still is not content with the governments’ measures to compensate them for high fuel costs, but it is expected that by early next week, store supplies will be back at normal levels. So, we should be happy when observing the empty spaces of products which are missing these days. Shelf space in supermarkets is very valuable and the fact that it is being left unused reveals shop owners' conviction that it will soon fill up again. Let us save the panic for the day when the former fresh meat counter has been filled with bean cans.

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