This comes from a conversation with my teacher aide. We were talking about democracy and how hard it is to achieve. I shared my beliefs that you can’t have a democracy unless you have a strong opposition, a union movement and freedom of the press. She wasn’t convinced that freedom of the press was possible so I shared some positive stories about the importance of freedom of the press in Australia and how it is one important reason that governments are evicted. She shrugged and said that her opinions probably reflect her experiences in this part of the world.
Somehow the connection was made to ‘waiting in line’ (probably the link was that things are done differently here). She described how in Azerbaijan ‘waiting’ in line is like a game, for men especially. It’s all about doing what you need to do to get to the front. It’s a similar story in Turkey, where people have to line at government counters for hours for various purposes.
At the Iranian Embassy a while ago, there was no ordered system of who was next to have their forms processed. We were only told to sit down. The patriarchs seemed to have most sway. They majestically summoned their wives, while brushing away any other contenders as if their priority has already been established and agreed upon. We were left with no option but to play the same game. No, I wasn’t the patriarch, the women in my group quietly came and took my passport and included it with theirs that they placed on the official’s desk. (We were promptly told to go away as we didn’t have a visa code, but that’s a different story)
In shops people will push in but they won’t look at you. It’s every person for themself.
For me it evokes war movies of despairing people waiting to be processed at the whim of officials, where despair dictates that you find your way to the front of the line regardless of anything. No doubt it has nothing to do with despair. Probably it’s ingrained in culture and maybe is even obligatory for men to prove their standing, if even to themself.
While the English may laugh at their obsession for forming lines, I’m thinking that it indicates a sense of hope. In Azerbaijan, that does not exist. People only hope to emigrate, to find a fair paying job, to have their university credentials recognised somewhere else, to not have to use bribery. I guess lack of hope is understandable when you’ve been a subject people to Russia since 1828 and only had independence since 1994. This is compounded by the Russian invasion of Georgia in August, which leaves no-one confident that Azerbaijan will maintain its independence in the long term.
This article, Current Trends in Education in Azerbaijan gives some of the history of Russia in Azerbaijan and looks forward to increasing independence. It was however written in 2001.
4 responses so far ↓
1
Freya
// Oct 4, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Hmm… waiting in line is generally only possible on the basis that whatever one is waiting for is available in enough supply that even if you have to wait, you’ll still get what you’re after. The only exceptions I can think of are certainly not life affecting things.
It does seem to be related to democracy to me. We determine that all other measures (age, race, gender) are irrelevant in most circumstances and so the first come first served basis works well. Only exceptions then become things like triage in Emergency.
All that said – why is it that at most bus stops in the city people will queue in peak hour, but at mine, there are those who queue and an abundance (of mostly young people) who just loiter behind the queue then get to the front of the queue? We generally accept it because it doesn’t make much difference in the grand scheme of things but it still p&*#&^*(s me off.
2
Leigh Newton
// Oct 4, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Is the bus queue story about youthful disrespect of all things structural or indicating that society as we know is breaking down? I hope it’s the former. I wonder what would happen if someone was pig-headed enough to address the loiterers and name what they were doing as self-centred? I guess we’ll never find out, unless you feel like making enemies.
Beats me how you know I’ve written one of my spasmodic posts when you don’t get an email notification. ??
Of course they only happen when I should be doing something else. We’re still waiting for our visas to Iran. We leave in less than a week. Sally, the Canadian, is still not sure if she can go as there is currently a diplomatic stoush between the two countries over the death of a Canadian female journalist in an Iranian prison.
3
Freya
// Oct 6, 2008 at 3:30 am
I guess I just check your blog often enough!
I think the bus queue thing is partly youthful disrespect, partly about the bus routes that travel through the stop, and partly about the location of the stop.
Most other stops are the kind where the bus that comes along is one that you can get on, so everyone joins the queue then everyone gets on the bus. But mine does The Parade as well as the hills, and even the hills buses vary quite wildly, so when there is a line there is then a little shuffling dance as the people who want the bus in question get on, and the others form a fresh line. There’s also a bit more space for the loitering to happen in than at other places – Harris Scarfe doorways and such.
I’ve tried saying things, as have others, but because its such a large group of people that do it, different ones each day – it seems that little change is possible.
The trip to Iran is approaching! Exciting stuff.
4
David Froemming
// Dec 2, 2008 at 2:04 am
Leigh,
Sorry I have not been in touch! I saw your lovely pictures and read some stories of unique culture. Fall was busy following Brian on weekends playing our version of football – they finished 11 and 2. Cailtin is swamped in another busy semester at St. Norbert College as a Senior. She is preparing to teach elementary school for 8 weeks in Mexico. The country feels like it is in “limbo” – until January 20th, and the next presidency. We held another Gospel Music Night at Christ Lutheran in November – raised $1,000 for a local cancer agency to help local people with travel and lodging for treatments. You can always check up on me here:
http://www.lutheransonline.com/christlutheranlancaster
Grace & peace,
David
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