The Needle and the Haystack
The new year kicked off in the Croatian capital with a bang and it sure was a merry occasion at the main square with fireworks, music and a colorful crowd. From locals to immigrants from Nepal who are getting used to the new surroundings and sending money back home from the work they do here. According to their own impressions, they like the place and enjoy their new life abroad in a country that’s rather known for emmigration of young, skilled professionals abroad to places like Germany and Ireland. However, there’s always bound to be a needle of hatred in the haystack of good will they’ve been met with so far. Which is what happened on social media after the party finished and people went home to nurse their hangovers. I’d dare to say in this case, it’s much more than that.
Some wannabe posh locals were scandalised by how much attention was given to the Nepalese people donning turbans that joined the celebration, looking delighted in the photos. Supposedly, they’re sticking out and ruining the scene. They’re thinning the blue blood running through the veins of this city though I would rather compare it to stale Kool-Aid. It’s rather typical for places and people that would very much like to be higher on the ladder than they actually are, so they look down upon others, especially if it’s an outsider with a different skin color. In a Facebook post, one of those put up an old photo of women dressed up fashionably from the 1930s taking a walk through the streets. Full of pride, she laments how they went from that to “them”. A true cultural downgrade, for her.
This caused quite an irritated reaction from Ida Prester, who hosted the New Year’s eve party in the main square. She defended the immigrants in question and got bombarded with suggestions by trolls that she take them to her own home instead of bothering others with it. When you see the photo, you see people smiling, having a good time. What’s wrong about that? None of them caused any kind of commotion. Though it would have had come in handy to some who desperately need an excuse for spitting out more of their bile. But great communities are defined by their ability to embrace and absorb people unfamiliar with their ways and habits as long as they follow the rules. If they do, yet they’re still treated like some strange, exotic animals, we have a problem. And a serious one at that.
First and foremost, most of them come in good faith to do something many of us are either too lazy, too privileged or too good for. They don’t come to work as high end designers, scientists or to research for their PhD’s at elite universities abroad. They’re the ones changing bedsheets of the hotel you’re staying at. Working in the kitchen of a local sushi bar. In fact, they’re looking for “any kind of job”. I remember staying at a literary residency in Istria. One of the workers at the local bakery was from the Philippines. I won’t praise his politeness because it would suggest immigrants are not inclined to qualities like that. As soon as we slip into plural when talking about him, it’s a slippery slope leading in the wrong direction.
You know what’s the funny part of this? The bourgeois glamour of the 1930s we see in old photos often shows foreigners too, from countries like Austria, Germany or Hungary. Wives of Jewish businesssmen or bankers, with a dresscode that openly displayed their status. Upper classes were immortalized in literature, like Miroslav Krleža’s play Messrs. Glembay, about the demise of a patrician family drowning in debt, criminal and immorality. And this old world our refined patriots are championing often belonged to the same people they sent to death camps in World War II. Now the same snakes started rattling their tails again. I wish it was a surprise, but it’s far from that. And it’s gaining traction as we speak.
There’s a reason why they say we should be careful about what we wish for. Today it’s the Nepalese, tomorrow it might be you. It’s not unusual to romanticise the past which always looks good in photos. That lady in a good hat doesn’t seem troubled at all. Maybe she’s got a driver that takes her shopping to Kastner & Öhler, the famous local department store named after its founders from Vienna. Launched in 1879, it displayed goods unavailable in the city until then. The current building was built in 1913 and it’s a historical landmark with the first lit window displays. The interiors are now restored to the original design and look like a cousin of Harrods. But after a long limbo and bankruptcy of the owner NAMA, the place is up for auction and it’s anyone’s guess who’ll be moving in next.
You’re unlikely to find immigrant workers browsing among its isles lined with expensive china or luxury cosmetics. But the history of the building says a lot about how these allegedly cherished European values are treated. After being nationalised by the Communist party, it was never returned to the original owners when Yugoslavia fell apart. Those looking down on foreigners probably have some unremarkable lineage. That's just a pretentious synonym since the word “family” might be too common for them. It would be slightly easier to digest if they were genuinely rich, but many are just members of upper middle class that happens to be an inch above the average. That’s too little to warrant any sort of self-congratulatory attitude. Not that it ever stopped them, quite the contrary.
Their own children could be in a similar position somewhere abroad, but they’re Christian, white and fluent in English which is all you need to fit in. Lots of them are in IT or elderly care. Sooner or later the same begrudged citizens could end up with an immigrant changing their adult diaper in a retirement home because the kids are far away living the good life. Amidst all the talk about people coming back, there’s little talk about what kind of expats actually return, or at least what kind of job they do over there. No, it’s nothing too glamorous and I doubt it requires academic expertise. Others invest in real estate at home for retirement because what they earn in Munich will take them much further than the average local income.
It never ceases to amaze me how frequently when I call a foreign customer service, on the other end of the line is someone with a strong Asian accent. Popular podcasts tend to be made by Americans. It can be related to market size which influences their outreach. I still find it intriguing you can earn a living on podcasts, let alone a fortune. That’s the difference between the USA and the rest. Joe Rogan couldn’t become what he is somewhere else. Probably because the modern online economy is designed for people who sell their personality or bodies as a lucrative brand. On the other hand, Nepalese workers in Croatia earn their living in rather old-fashioned ways. That certainly doesn’t mean they deserve old-fashioned racism too. Unfortunately, sometimes that’s exactly what they get. Still, let’s not set the whole haystack on fire for a few rusty needles.
