Capsule of Absurdity No. 2

Many of my readers and fans have asked me to write something concerning Alitalia and its recent crisis. So here's the second installment of 'capsules of absurdity', the successful series started here.

As most Italian public services, the circumstances of Alitalia are full of absurd events and developments, not only in the relation with the customer but in the very essence of its life as a company. I won't enter into the details of the corruption and bankruptcy in Alitalia nor describe the recent tricks to keep it alive; they're so absurd that I would bore you unnecessarily. Instead, here I shall describe some events related to my recent trip Bologna - Warsaw with Alitalia.

I had never flown with Alitalia. I had heard that the service was terrible, but the same I had heard of other companies, such as Lufthansa. (It is worth pointing out that I don't travel a lot, and that I mainly use AirFrance. I have used BA and Iberia.) So, back at the end of June, flying with Alitalia for the first time didn't seem like a stupid thing. Of course I had heard that it had problems, but (i) the whole sector was/is in trouble because of oil prices, (ii) I was somehow confident in Silvio B's promises of an "Italian Alitalia" (Alitalia owned by Italian shareholders), and (iii) I had heard that they had money to work normally till December this year. Based on all the above, and in the fact that I found the cheapest fare (250 Euro), I bought my ticket to Warsaw with Alitalia, doing Bologna-Rome-Warsaw.

Problems began the weekend before my trip. The newspapers announced that the group of entrepreneurs ready to save Alitalia and the unions weren't able to reach an agreement. As a consequence, the existence of the company was in serious risk. Many rumors indicated that the situation was really critic, as the company had problems ensuring provisions of fuel.

Immediately, I entered into panic mode and looked for my ticket's rules for cancellation. They weren't with the things I had been given, and I forgot to ask them explicitly. I went to the travel agency, where I was informed that in case I wanted to cancel my ticket I would only receive 100 Euros back and that a different ticket with another company would cost more than 400 Euro. They also critizied me for following the "alarmism of media", claiming that Alitalia had been in crisis for 3 years and that nothing had happened. Moreover, the owner of the agency, who was overhearing my case, quickly pointed out that she had herself Alitalia tickets for her vacation and that she wouldn't cancel them for some "silly rumors."

The following week I spent/wasted a significant amount of time following the developments in media, quickly discovering that getting informed in this country is simply impossible. I decided not to change the ticket, essentially because the price difference was huge. My hope was that the final collapse of Alitalia would occur just after my flights.

Real panic returned to me the afternoon before my flight, scheduled to depart at 11am from Bologna. I was trying to print a copy of my online itinerary and then I got the following message:

We can't display your itinerary, as your flights have changed. Please consult your travel agency.

I ran to the agency to find out what was going out. The answer was really absurd. I was told:

Your flight has been canceled for logistic reasons. There's an earlier flight at 9am, would you like to take it?

Of course I took the earlier flight. Even if the whole idea of having a flight canceled without getting any notification is outrageous, the fact that the only possibility for me was an earlier flight was simply beyond any limit of absurdity. What if I don't check the online thing and arrive to the airport to take the 11am flight? There were no other flights to Rome so that I could connect to Warsaw, and I would have wasted a lot of energy, time and mental sanity in the process.

The reservation was corrected and I printed the online itinerary. The night before I couldn't sleep and decided to check again the itinerary. I got the same error I got in the afternoon. Complete panic. Then I decided to contact Alitalia's call center. My conversation with the Alitalia operator (AZ) was amusing:

(Me): I would like to confirm my flights for tomorrow, please.
(AZ): All flights are confirmed.

(Me): Wait a second, I haven't given you my flight information...
(AZ): Mmm, OK. What's your last name?

After giving my information, they confirmed all the data of the corrected booking and I felt relieved. I still want to think that the "all flights are confirmed" greeting was due to the fact that operators are allowed to feel tired every once in a while. Since stupidity has universally prevailed in history, I am afraid it's not difficult to imagine the following hypothetical conversation, between a stupid customer (SC) and the same call center:

(SC): Hello, I would like to confirm my flights for tomorrow, please.
(AZ): All flights are confirmed.

(SC): Oh, good to hear, thank you very much.
(AZ): You're welcome. Thanks for choosing Alitalia.

Luckily, the two flights to Warsaw were OK. You could tell how all the employees were stressed with the whole situation. It must have been really hard for them, the ones who actually work, to answer the challenge while the government and the union leaders played their stupid political games. The situation was kind of solved last Thursday, so I didn't worry about the returning flights. Those were also OK. In fact, they corresponded to the infamous motto given to Alitalia: "Always Late In Take-off Always Late In Arrival." But that didn't matter: I managed to go and return from Warsaw without significant problems (the huge delays that I had to suffer were no surprise).

On Golf

I have always thought that one of the most striking aspects of a poor country like Colombia a foreign visitor could easily appreciate is the fact that social differences are extremely evident. You can see it in the transportation means. You can see it in the people that lives in flat places with all proper public services (clean water, electricity) and in the ones that have to live in risky hills without elementary living conditions. You see it in the nice neighborhoods that are not very far away from other neighborhoods where houses are older and smaller.

In this line, many other comparisons could be drawn. Social differences, as expected, affect many things, from education and living conditions to trends and ways of expression, passing through entertainment habits. For instance, even if poor and rich people might like to have fun every weekend (most likely, this means dancing while getting drunk), they do it in different ways and with different means. Naturally, the causes and repercussions of those weekend habits depend on your place in society. That's how, for instance, whereas for a rich person having fun is just only another aspect of his/her social life, for a poor person the possibility of having fun during weekends could be the only reason to maintain a crappy, not-so-well paid job.

The above --rather obvious and biased-- preamble on social differences is only to justify my aversion towards golf. Yes, I hate what golf (and people that play golf) could represent in a poor country like Colombia. Of course that comes from my social prejudices. Let me elaborate. In a country like Colombia only extremely rich people play golf (of course, as usual, there are those who hang out with rich people but are far from rich). Why is that? Well, that's because most golf courts are placed in exclusive social clubs. Clubs that the 98% of the population can not afford. Clubs that make sure that only the right people become a member. So, I find it fair to say that golf is the only sport that represents social exclusion in Colombia (this might possibly apply to other countries). Both rich and non rich people play soccer: they're fields everywhere (both good and not so good). Other sports, to a lesser degree, traverse the whole structure of the society.

I think of golf because recently a young Colombian golfer won some PGA tournament (something that in the golf world is supposed to be good). Nothing wrong with that: winning has its merits, so this guy could go back home (surely not in Colombia) and enjoy his money. What really pisses me off is that, preserving the low self-esteem we have as a country, this lame golf victory was the national event last week. This golf thing was top news to the most annoying level. It was very sad to see such a coverage, since --as already argued-- the 98% of Colombian population don't know nor care about what a birdie or a putt are. It was also weird to see a non poor, winning Colombian sportsman, but that some sort of corollary, given that the sport in question is golf.

I find the situation absurd. It's like if I appear in media because I publish a paper or finish my PhD. Indeed, pretty much as the golfer represents social exclusion in sports, when it comes to education I do represent social exclusion, considering that most Colombian people don't get university degrees (let alone PhDs) or have the possibility of living abroad. For the young golfer and myself life circumstances have place us in rather comfortable places. Places that most of my fellow Colombians would not even dream about. Both of us are lucky enough to put our talent and sacrifice on something we enjoy. Granted, in our society a sportsman has obviously more media appeal than a researcher, and in that point the comparison is unfair. But it is about time that media (and most importantly, ourselves) give the right proportions when portraying things, including arguably important golf victories.

A lazy post

Even if there are several things to comment on (most notably, the presidential campaign in USA), and as a side effect of my post-vacation depression, these days I am do not feel like writing a proper entry for the blog. I have several half-written, potentially nice entries, but my laziness has prevailed. 

Since I don't want to disappoint all the readers that follow this blog around the globe --and that send me all kinds of emails everyday--, here's something you all might be interested in.

Alex James is a former drug addict, and bass player from the british rock band Blur. Recently, he was invited by the Colombian government to see with his own eyes the war against drugs. He made a report for BBC's Panorama in which he relates his experience in Colombia, which included a visit to jungle where cocaine is produced and an interview with Colombia's president. Below you might find the 30-minute report, divided in 3 parts; hope you find it interesting. 

An inspiring place

I have been in Copenhagen (CPH) for the last two weeks. As usual, it took me a bit to put my thoughts together on my impressions on Denmark, in particular considering that this is my first time in a first-world country (sorry France). Here's an attempt to give a written account of that impressions.

The initial reaction concerns that naive ---almost childish-- surprise in appreciating the simplicity of modernity. Clean streets, automatic, easy-to-use transport means, and in general, an organized society. People is in general friendly, an impression perhaps accentuated by the fact it's summer. Another remarkable thing here in CPH is the huge amount of families with small babies. There are baby strollers everywhere! Bologna is certainly not the proper place to see young people (apart from the students) and young families. Most city structures are now customized to the many parents with strollers moving around the city. The outstanding civility in the use of bicycles is something that also strikes me. Of course in other countries using a bicycle as a transport means is common, but here you can tell it is something that is part of the danish character. This is specially true when I think of the marvelous chaos of people in bicycles in Bologna and around.

Being a port, CPH has an special spirit. In its forms CPH is, essentially, a horizontal city. The architecture is different to everything I had seen before; both old and new buildings transmit a sensation of serenity, in which both the great history and the recent changes of the country are reflected. Denmark is a very old country and has gone through a number of events along time. Yet, in CPH you can appreciate a dynamic spirit that provokes creation and even re-creation. In some sense, the old doesn't look that old and the recent looks modern in a very classy way. This can be witnessed in districts and neighborhoods that are very recent or that are being built. The splendor of the modern Danish architecture and (specially) design can be seen everywhere.

In short, I can say now that CPH is a truly inspiring place. I am here for academic reasons, staying at the IT University of Copenhagen. That's the most inspiring CS department that I have visited (not that I have visited many CS departments, though). The infrastructure is amazing, really impressive.

When I visit a place that impresses me, I can't help thinking how much I wish to have my family and close friends to be with me and see the things I can see. In that sense, I feel fortunate. My feeling is that visiting CPH could be an amazing place to inspire anyone back in Colombia. Things are very different here, and differences can be appreciated even in the minor details. Many times I see small things and I say "hey, that's something extremely clever, that's something we should bring to Colombia!" I think of young people in Colombia that feel lost or skeptical about their future. I understand that for them life might seem only a handful of possibilities, something completely opposite to the options young Danes have. I can't help thinking how spending only one day in places like CPH or Paris could inspire a young Colombian for the rest of his/her life. Not only because of the mere experience of traveling and seeing different things, but also because of the shock of seeing that a better world (or, a world that works, if you want), built by people equal to them, is indeed possible.

Soccer and Summer

One of the downsides of the summer is that there are no official soccer competitions. Actually, the real problem is that the sport press doesn't stop during the summer. Soccer news in the summer can be extremely annoying, as every single year it's the same thing, with all kinds of rumors regarding big teams signing new players.

Those who know me know that I am a supporter of Real Madrid. I won't elaborate here on why this is; I will only say that it's the best team of the world. In fact, Real Madrid is perhaps the only thing I like about Spain. (Actually I don't know why I don't like Spain in general, never had a bad experience nor a Spanish friend. It must be the fact that in Spain, as a Colombian or Ecuadorian immigrant you might get a free beating.) Because of Real Madrid, part of my daily routine is to give a quick look (not so quick when there's some important game) to the main sport newspapers in Madrid: As and Marca. Since most people in Madrid are RM followers, these newspapers usually only publish news related to the team. One of the beautiful things about soccer is that when you decide to support a team, you're automatically deciding to hate your team's rival. In case you don't know, RM's all-time rival is FC Barcelona. This rivalry follows the traditional one between the two cities, and comprises many things, including politics. Because of this, sometimes I also read the Barcelona newspapers, Mundo Deportivo and Sport. I enjoy doing so when FCB loses in pathetic ways (which is frequent). They also start stupid rumors about RM and its players, which are also funny to read sometimes.

This summer sport newspapers in Madrid and Barcelona have been especially annoying, and this certainly deserves a post. The story of the summer in Madrid is Cristiano Ronaldo signing for RM. I am so fed up with the thing that everyday I wake up wishing the story is over. My position in this is clear: I don't want CR in Madrid. Granted, the guy is an outstanding player, but it's my impression that he's not psychologically strong enough to become the best soccer player in the world. And RM must have the best players in the world. Just take a look in the way he kicked the penalty in the UEFA Champions League final. He was scared. Think about real extraordinary players in soccer history (say Zidane): they would have kicked that penalty properly, with confidence. Ronaldo was lucky enough that John Kerry did much worse than him kicking his penalty. Otherwise, Cristiano would have been remembered as the idiot that gave Chelsea the trophy.

Now let's turn to the situation in Barcelona. They have a lot of problems: they want(ed) to get rid of good (yet problematic) players (Ronaldinho, Deco, Etoo), there's a new coach, the president of the club has little support. However, the story of the summer concerns Lionel Messi going to the Olympic games. The club doesn't want Lio to go to the games as they coincide with the preliminary qualification round for the UEFA Champions. However, FIFA regulations say that the club must allow Messi to play with his national team. The player seems to be too shy to make his position clear, which I really can't stand. It's some sort of endless situation in which both parts (the club and the Argentinian soccer association) are right. Things are really annoying because there are lawyers and courts taking part of the dispute. The latest news is that Messi went to China (based on a decision of some court), but today a higher court said that FC Barcelona wasn't obliged to let Messi participate. The Argentinian association replied saying that there's no way Messi is returning...

All in all, I hope these two stories to reach a final. I really don't care how the things evolve. Really. I look forward for the beginning of the new soccer year, which should be exciting.