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004 On the tramvaj in Zagreb

2/5/2019

2 Comments

 

Regions, cities and towns: Zagreb #004

On the tramvaj in Zagreb


​A study in human behaviour.    Winners and losers.



​I guess it is important that those of us learning Croatian should also learn about Croatians.

The people of Zagreb are highly cultured, and very civil. Except perhaps in one instance ….
 
Ja sam na Trgu bana Jelačića. Čekam tramvaj. Ah, evo ga! Dvanaestica (Number 12) 


Picture


I'm tired after a whole day walking around Zagreb, so I hope that I can get a seat.
 
Lucky me .... the trams stops so that I am right in front of one of the doors. Even luckier: the tram is quite empty.
 
Aha, vidim neka slobodna mjesta. I ja sam na čelu gužve. I am at the front of the crowd (waiting to get on).



Picture
Image by Djordje Nikolic from Pixabay
Gdje da sjednem?  Where will I sit? 

I am feeling a little guilty because other people were waiting before I arrived.

I shouldn't have (felt guilty), because when the tram stopped, I was shoved aside like a delicate leaf. A charge for the empty seats showed no mercy for those without a killer instinct.

Nema slobodnih mjesta! There are no empty seats left!

When I had regained my composure, I could clearly see two sets of passengers:
  • Those who managed to get a seat, all wearing a victorious smirk on their faces, and 
  • Those who did not, with the darkest faces that you could imagine. Such snarls!
​
Among those sitting are seven-year olds, feeding their faces on chocolate or ice cream, and blissfully ignorant of the old ladies (and me) who are standing as the tram wobbles along. Their mothers (some of whom are also standing) seem determined to protect their children’s right to occupy a seat. The little darlings. Oh dear, one of them has started to cry because he has finished his packet of bonbonova, and needs some more.

Also sitting are teenagers and twenty-somethings. Those in groups talk to each other, laughing nervously, all the while pretending to be oblivious to the 90-year-old lady standing alongside them.

And then there are the young(ish) people on their own, who look at the floor, or pretend to be using their phones. This is a tactic of not making eye contact with that gruff-looking old man who is hovering over them with a scornful look on his face. 


The dark-faced standers exude gamma-rays from their eyes at the less-deserving who are sitting down.
​
The young(er) people sitting down do not register that the gamma-rays are causing their skin to peel. The gamma rays are unsuccessful in making the sitters feel uncomfortable enough to offer their seats to the old folk standing alongside them.

 
The tram approaches a stop, and a few people start to gather up their belongings.

The thoughts of those standing focus in sync: Mislim da će ove osobe sići.  I think that these people be getting off.

They manoeuvre for position. It seems that two seats will be vacated, but at least five people have their eyes focussed on those two seats, thinking through their strategy to out-manoeuvre the others.

When the two people get up to leave, what happens next is not pretty!

How is it that the seemingly frail 85-year-old lady - who was not even one of the five bystanders - managed to grab a seat with the fierceness of a lioness caring for its cubs?

Not only did she command a seat for herself, but she put her Konzum shopping bags on the other seat, thus denying access to anybody else in the overfull tram! Eto na!

The five losers (ovih pet gubitnika) are astonished at their defeat. Ajme meni! They know that some force of nature has just expressed itself, but they do not understand it.


​
I think that when zagrepčani get up in the morning and set their goals for the day, for many, it is to be successful in getting a seat on the tram.
​
What is my evidence for this uncomplimentary thought? Well, it is confirmed each time that I get off the tram.

 
Picture

Believe it or not, I am still inside this tram, trying to make my way out against the stampede of the seat-seekers.

Each for their own! Wives leave their husbands behind, and vice versa. All conversation ceases. Those getting on develop sore necks as their heads turn quickly this way and that, searching, searching ....... In Australia, we call this "rubber necking".

I am jammed between the irresistible force of those trying to get on, and the immovable objects comprising those on board trying to get off. There is little graciousness here.
 
So far as I can tell, when people get off the tram, they immediately relax and become happy, civil, and cultured burgers again.
 

For purposes of the story, I admit that I have exaggerated. A little. 

​



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2 Comments
Mia
4/5/2019 17:02:25

Wow! I'm still laughing out loud! Brilliant post! I'm born in Zagreb and I can say that you haven't exaggerated at all!!!

Reply
Bob Bucat
5/5/2019 11:58:28

Great. I laugh when I am actually on the trams!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

Getting around

You can browse or search this website in the following ways:
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  • Click to go to the ROAD MAP (also from the drop-down menu under the NAVIGATION button).
  • Click to go to the ALPHABETICAL INDEX. (also from the drop-down menu under the NAVIGATION button).
  • Enter a word or phrase in the Search box at the top of each page.​​




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  • Home
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    • Posts 1 -15 >
      • 001 Kosa, koza, koža
      • 002 Pronouncing 'au'
      • 003 Can language influence behaviour?
      • 004 First day of the week
      • 005 Do Croatians assign gender to objects?
      • 006 Za četiri dana, na dva dana
      • 007 My brain becomes full!
      • 008 Sretan rođendan ti
      • 009 Na kavu, po kavu, za kavu?
      • 010 Until you don't do it
      • 011 Nazvati nekoga, telefonirati nekomu
      • 012 If she were a man ....
      • 013 Streets with two names?
      • 015 Tri, četiri, sad!
    • Posts 16-30 >
      • 016 I feel like crying!
      • 017 I felt like crying, I will feel like crying
      • 018 Picking up place names by ear
      • 019 Where did the "j" go?
      • 020 Koliko kiše smo imali?
      • 021 Požuri polako
      • 022 Mi, mi, mi, mi
      • 023 Why should we learn the grammar?
      • 024 Words for youngsters are neuter
    • EXPERIENCES >
      • EXPERIENCES: POSTS 1 - 15 HOME >
        • 001 Licitarska srca
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        • 005 Jučer ili sutra?
        • 006 Što rade ućitelji?
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      • 003 Endings of pronouns and adjectives
      • 004 "u" ili "na" ?
      • 005 The declensions of Tko? and Što?
      • 006 Ja sam na Trgu bana Josipa Jelačića
      • 007 Going and coming: u-iz, but na-sa
      • 008 Sav - All, every
      • 009 Number of subjects and the verb 'biti'
      • 010 Koga nazoveš? Komu telefoniraš?
      • 011 Declension of place names
      • 012 Dati - dativ
      • 013 Verb endings: Who is the doer?
      • 014 Sibilarization and palatalization
      • 015 Iotation (jotacija)
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      • 016 Vodice su grad u Hrvatskoj
    • Grammar reference section >
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        • 001 Questions that define the case of nouns
        • 002 All nouns have gender
        • 003 Nouns in the nominative case
        • 004 Nouns: Declension categories
        • 004a A universal declension table?
        • 005 Declension of regular masculine nouns
        • 006 Declension of regular feminine nouns
        • 008 Masculine plural - infix or not?
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        • 001 Transitive and intransitive verbs
        • 004 Conjugation types
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      • 002 U tom grmu leži zec!
      • 003 Baš me briga!
      • 004 Mačji kašalj!
      • 005 Što je, tu je!
      • 006 Eto ti ga na!
      • 007 Na licu mjesta
      • 008 Sve si to ti kriv!
    • DAKLE, ŽELIŠ BITI KAO PRAVI HRVAT, JE L' DA? HOME >
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      • 002 Je l' tako?
      • 003 Tako je!
      • 004 Izvoli! Izvolite!
      • 005 Eto!
  • VOCABULARY
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      • 001 Even dying is not easy!
      • 002 To laugh or to smile?
      • 003 Nahraniti, sahraniti .... schmahraniti
      • 004 Prefixes that modify verb meanings
      • 005 Prefixes on base verb stati
      • 006 Country names - noun or adjective?
      • 007 Names of towns: A grammatical nightmare
      • 008 Countries: What do we call their citizens?
      • 009 Baš
      • 010 What a joke! vic or šala?
      • 011 Čak
      • 012 Još or više? (More of something)
      • 013 Još or više? (Time-related)
    • FRAZEOLOGIJA - HOME >
      • Based on NOUNS >
        • 001 RUKA
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        • 001 UZIMATI/UZETI
    • VERB BUILDING: HOME >
      • 001 GOVORITI verbs
    • Vocab THEMES: HOME >
      • 001 In the time of coronavirus
    • Što je korijen riječi?: HOME >
      • 001 Nadimak
      • 002 Zora, prozor, zoran, ….
      • 003 Uništiti
  • CROATIA
    • Republika Hrvatska: HOME >
      • 001 Anthem: LIJEPA NAŠA
      • 002 Map of Croatia
      • 003 Županije: The counties of Croatia
    • Where/What/Who is that? HOME >
      • Where/What/Who? Pages 1 - 15 >
        • 001 A girl and a bird
        • 002 His left foot
        • 003 A rebel
        • 004 Čuvarica Omiša
        • 005 Giorgio or Juraj?
        • 006 Tovar and friend
        • 007 Up on high
        • 008 On an island
        • 009 Water wonderland
    • REGIONS, CITIES, TOWNS: HOME >
      • ZAGREB: HOME >
        • THE CITY >
          • 001 Zagreb cathedral
        • PEOPLE and CULTURE >
          • 001 Advent in Zagreb
          • 002 Interliber book fair
          • 004 On the tramvaj in Zagreb
          • 005 A night at the ballet
      • DALMACIJA: HOME >
        • BEING AND SPEAKING DALMATIAN: HOME >
          • 001 Molin?
          • 002 Eleven Dalmatian commandments
          • 003 Dalmatinski rječnik
      • Zagorje: HOME >
        • 001 Autumn tones
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    • INDEX, ALPHABETICAL