# the view outside v the reality inside



## mrsDayLewis (Nov 18, 2008)

Yep, a bit longish title, but today after talking with an ex pat 'Scandinavian', thought Id add this:
When back 'home' over Christmas time, this ex pat lady said that when people heard she lives in Greece, they were giving her all the "and we are all being made to pay for the problems there now" while she was trying to explain that for many people here life is far from ok.
I went onto tell her how that in the platia near me, (outdoors) lives an elderly lady (not Greek) who lost her husband at Christmas - he passed away on Christmas eve and they (other park people) realized the next morning when he didnt awake.
Yesterday another sick, thin and weak platia resident was helped off to hospital by an ambulance attendant...
People in the wealthier European countries have a great misconception of life here now.... their own social services may not be perfect but at least they are in place and the weak, elderly and sick are given priority.
The ex-pat I spoke with was appalled at my sad story and said THIS is what the news should cover - and give us a break from troika.
UNHCR are not moving from their position that Greece is a safe 'haven' for refugees and asylum seekers .... its a mad mad world :confused2:


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## wka (Sep 18, 2009)

I agree - I live in a medium-sized city and I am aware that there is a homeless family (recently homeless, "crisis victims") who are living on the street with a very little baby (several months old). There is no welfare or safety net for them, not even for the baby. People who have lost everything here have no safety net at all. Thank goodness it's not so cold this winter as it usually is (we're up north) but either way, a baby shouldn't have to sleep on the street. I am certain that this is not the image that is directed out to the world. I am really getting tired of hearing about the "13th and 14th salaries" as if people who accepted employment with a particular salary are greedy for expecting to receive it, and with no attempt to explain that the entire concept of the 13th/14th salaries was actually to SAVE the government money by reducing pension payouts. It's just shouting into the wind... they will believe what they are told by their media and there's very little we can do here to correct the image. Even my father buys most of it wholesale.


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## precociousindy (Dec 6, 2011)

I live in a medium sized town and am fortunate to have food and shelter but not much else. It seems to me people seem to survive from their connections. People are always helping each other out of they can, in mostly very small ways. But being from the US I respect that sense of community that I am to accustomed to. However, I think of the old, the young, or the poor that might have few connections and I wonder how they get by. For example, our electricity went out and we couldn't afford an electrician of course. However, we called everyone we knew and within two days found somebody willing to take a look. It's pretty similar when we need to borrow a car as well. I don't know how the others manage or how we would without this luck.


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