In Brazil, mind these gaps

Sentences from the text as appetizers:

...productivity is not a concern anywhere in Brazil.

It's 18h30. Your class is to start in ten minutes and, damn, why that fucking gate, which was open before, is now closed?

The new rector at USP is a doctor. So do not hesitate mentioning 'systemic approach'.

And remember: most of the new Brazilian middle class come from poor schools.
===


The snobbish newspaper Folha de S.Paulo has published, at a point during the long period of Carnival, that Congress in Brazil has just set a new record of low productivity - the lowest in a decade.

So what? Why focusing on Congress? Let's see how productivity is not a concern anywhere in Brazil. In order to embrace such exercise, let's do what the government recommends and take a bus to go to the renowned USP - University of São Paulo.

Commuting to the University of São Paulo USP
To cross the bridge Cidade Universitária, there are three bus lines. Two of them, however, are so sparse no one with a bit of sense relies on them. As a result, these buses run almost empty; they are big: their capacity is about 100 on board. Our third option - well, forget about option - is always very busy. Despite, such line is operated through a... minibus.

Running packed means, besides stress, time wasted to get on and off the minibus. And there is more: no collector is on board; the bus driver has to deal with change, passes... - and he does so while driving. No one recriminates him for that. Everyone is late. The bus drivers who, in addition, talk on the cell phone are on the rise. No one cares as long as the bus is moving.

So as you get off at the first stop after crossing the bridge, always remember how fortunate you have been to still be alive. Now you are very close to one of the gates to USP. Good news? Not really. As you now walk, you will have to cross the street to pass through the gate. There is no traffic lights and, as a pedestrian, you are ignored by those on the wheels. The traffic is that heavy you do not get a chance to leap or something between cars without exposing yourself to great danger. What to do? It is up to you!

Oh! You have to take classes in the evening? After at least two hours on a packed bus (you did not dare face the train), you approach that same gate. And... it is closed! It's 18h30. Your class is to start in ten minutes and, damn, why that fucking gate, which was open before, is now closed?

Trying to crack the fucking case
Very good question. Ask the rector. The new rector at USP is a doctor. So do not hesitate mentioning 'systemic approach'. You are aware that running such a big institution is a challenge but... why that fucking gate can't be open at that rush hour?

Well, the answer is not complex. It is tradition. Tradition? Or 'culture' if you prefer. The gatekeeper must go have his evening meal. No one is available to replace him and then... simple as that: close the gate just at the peak of rush hour and at the time the horrid big amount of students (besides teachers, etc.) are struggling to get to class. You must agree that a low-level clerk such as that is not paid to worry about anything else than doing his job.

Where then is his boss that does not see it is stupid to close that gate at that time? Another good question. Is that boss around by any means? Or is he very far from there and does not have a damn notion of what he is supposed to supervise?

See? I told you the key is tradition.

What do you do? Definitely, drive. If you insist otherwise, you will have to walk further along that scaringly polluted and noisy avenue called Alvarenga till you get to P1 - main gate (portaria) one. You will be late. Moreover, on looking for the traffic lights again, you won't find them. Seriously? Seriously. You will come across signs on the campus inciting people to use the bus. If you resist driving or decide walking is suicide, you'll be reading one of those signs while severely squeezed on the buses the former rector contracted by the time he also prohibited (or did not authorize, if you prefer) the building of a underground station at the campus.

Post Carnival high moods down the drain
Today you are inspired after Carnival. At 5 a.m. you were already on your way to USP. You get safe to your unit at the campus. You must prepare an assignment and thus find a place in the study area of the library. You set your notebook, get a connection through your cell phone. No, no wifi is freely availabe in the campus area - libraries included - of the most snobbish university on Earth.

Your classmate keeps a portable cafeteria is his lock! You put that to work too and rejoice at the expectation of enjoying a well deserved coffee, before getting down to business full of enthusiasm. But...

A employee from the university comes to you and say, "Someone asked the room to be washed; it is full of sand from the remodelling. Use the makeshift room in the other building.'

The remodelling had finished more than 20 days ago. It is Thrusday after the long Carnival holiday. Who is that someone that has asked such disruptive cleaning now?

Your colleague asks when the room will be ready. The employee says, maybe tomorrow. Not today? Maybe today - in the evening. Maybe. I do not know, he adds.
I am sure: it will not be ready even tomorrow (on a Friday?)

'Tradition" again. Today is not a holiday anymore. So that library and its study area are supposed to stay open until 10 and 11 p.m. respectively. Likely: someone from the staff, evening shift, has not returned from Carnival. What to do? Right; you got it.

Dire notes - directions for nothing
Tradition, though, does not account for all of the poor productivity. It is not rare to witness this situation in the huge city of São Paulo: a woman who is trying to get to the premises of her new job. She shows instructions written down by someone else. But she is lost and, confused, keeps asking for directions to bypassers. She is not educated enough to merely assimilate such basic instructions and find herself around. Worse, she cannot even state clearly where she wants to get to, nor give a sensible report of the difficulties she has been facing. Very likely, she will 'follow' oral instructions by strangers for most of the day - a great deal of them is just guessing pretending otherwise. She is going to fail to reach the right place.

The blend of poor schooling and that peculiar 'tradition' brings about a number of other deleterious effects, the most evident ones, perhaps, being (1) to follow orders blindly, and (2) put one's own interests first in any case, failing to make even the most elementary adjustments when they happen to be necessary.

Brazilian translation of 'individual rights' in practice
People in Brazil stand along the whole extent of the escalators, blocking others. Mobility? They won't spontaneously move an inch to let you pass, be it in public transportation or just on the streets: they are on their right, they think. By the same token, when traffic lights turn green, they will speed up, and treat the pedestrian still trying to reach the other end as mere dust in the their 'legitimate' way.

And remember: most of the new Brazilian middle class come from poor schools.

What is the law for and huge pets in the park
I have just witnessed this curious case in the park almost exclusively  by the upper class in the city of São Paulo. The rule is clear: every dog must be kept in tight collar. Signs bearing this rule are spread around. A further rule says that if the dog belongs to a dangerous race (on a list of four), further equipment is mandatory.

Now this Sunday a little boy has a very big dog in a collar. So big it is that the boy cannot manage the dog, but it is just the other way round. So the dog jumps on a woman who is reading by the shade of a tree. The woman complains to a police woman in duty there. 'If it is not one of those four races, it is alright. We cannot do anything', the police woman claims, who simply threw the most general rule in the trash. She was not able to analyse the two rules together. This was too much for her - and most of the workforce in Brazil, even in São Paulo city, is just like her.

The case becomes even more notable as we next tried to talk to someone in the managing office in the park. Firstly, a woman there, putting a harsh face, promptly endorsed the words of the police woman, which she had just learned about. Her logic: if the police woman told that, it is that. Period. But we then found a young man, also under that park's office, who behaved very differently. Showing a light smile, he followed our reasoning and declared along with us: 'If the boy cannot control the dog it is equivalent to the dog being free of his collar'. This was really amazing! Do not ever expect to find a Brazilian like this young man. It is just so rare it tends to null.

I then asked myself: what is going to happen to such a smart guy? Easy question this time. If he takes initiatives, he is going to be punished and probably fired.
--


Do you have a word?
Comment and we may publish it here. Email:
mariangelaepdro @ yahoo.com
Thanks!