The excrement was everywhere. On the floor. On the door. On the walls. On the toilet seat. In and around the lavatory bowl. Add a little blood to the recipe to complete the scene. The Charge of the Shite Brigade. A fellow patient had fallen in the toilet. Following surgery to remove my gall bladder, I was not blessed with faecal solidity either, meaning that I had to make frequent trips to the bathroom. Of course, the shitshow in front of me persuaded me to hold on as long as possible. No cleaning staff in the middle of the night, so the cleaning job was basic – mop and water, but no bleaches or toilet cleaners.
I complain, but it must be said again (just over two years after my last stay in the Papanikolaou Hospital) that I received excellent treatment. In hospital at around 1pm and whisked off to the operating theatre at 11:45pm for laparoscopic surgery.
Today, just over two weeks later, I had my stitches removed. There were four cuts in my abdomen and a grand total of just eight stitches. Thirty years ago, my stomach would have been opened from left to right.
Greeks are not good at queuing. On her first visit to the UK, the first photo my wife took in Edinburgh was not of the Castle, but of a bus queue in Princes St. She found it hilarious. The admissions area of a public hospital is a scene of utter chaos. The sick person has a team of relatives ready to seize upon any advantage or weakness in other patients, or grab a passing hospital employee to persuade them that their relative’s need is greater than the others’. It’s a well-dressed third world, but once the medical team sees you, the process is logical and methodical. As I said two years ago, how can a country that is still technically bankrupt deliver better health care than the UK – supposedly the sixth strongest economy in the world? Of course, though Greece’s system is overwhelmed, it is not burdened by bullshit. You are asked if you are male or female, not to tick one of eighteen boxes listing a wide selection of genders. Nor did some lackey come to my bed to ask if the doctors and nursing staff had been mindful and respectful of my innate Irishness or Celticness. OK, maybe that does not happen in the UK, but Staffordshire NHS recently advertised for a “Director of Lived Experience” – whatever the fuck that is – on a salary of over £110,000 a year.
Buses. Greeks will seize any chance to defy anti-smoking laws but never on buses. Until now. Four guys lit up on the 1N, a service that runs between the main KTEL coach station and the airport. The driver told them to desist, and the fuckers had a real go at the driver’s compartment. The driver, thankfully, was uninjured. https://www.newsbreak.gr/ellada/534327/nea-epithesi-se-odigo-toy-oasth-gia-mia-paratirisi/
My local bus, the 72, starts at IKEA and makes its way to Perea, N. Epivates, Agia Triada, Kerasia and finally to N. Mihaniona, a small town with an impressive harbour. Recently, a driver asked a group of about 20 youths to stop annoying other passengers. When the bus reached its destination, the youths attacked the driver. He required hospital treatment.
Maybe it’s due to a change in the weather, but November has been a wild month for those travelling on buses. KTEL is the name of the coach company that handles long-distance journeys. This time the driver was unaffected, but two passengers got into a fight on a coach that was headed for Karditsa. Knives were drawn. Both men were injured and required hospital treatment. Madness. More information here: https://www.news247.gr/ellada/trikala-agrios-kavgas-me-maxairomata-mesa-se-leoforeio-tou-ktel/
Politically, the autumnal madness continues too. The main opposition party is on the point of dissolution. ‘Split’ does not describe the situation as more than one faction is involved. Splits and dissolutions are quite common in Greece. Only the KKE (the Communist Party) has existed for a century. It has been around since 1918 and has existed under the same name since 1924. New Democracy and PASOK date from 1974.
Of course, the real shock was Sunak’s cancellation of his scheduled meeting with Mitsotakis. Sunak was miffed either because Mitsotakis met with Labour’s Starmer or because he had the temerity to discuss the Elgin Marbles in a BBC interview. Greeks have reacted patriotically. This photo was published in Eleftheri Ora, a far-right rag. I’m tempted to tell them that in authentic English it should say, “Fuck you, ya bastard.”
Adding to the fun, the king wore a tie during his COP 28 address that literally nailed his colours to the mast. Sunak and Co must be spitting feathers.
