My last trip to Lodz Poland, like most of my other trips,
taught me how to feel better about myself by adjusting my own mentality a bit, after comparing it with the ones of others.
The essence of my website Free Pleasures Worldwide is not to promote LIFE WITHOUT MONEY, like you might think at a first glance.
The essence is to promote INDEPENDENCE OF MONEY.
Although the warm and friendly people I meet in tango, do not represent the overall mentality, I had a great time meeting myself in handling different mentalities.
Like I experienced in other ex-Sovjet countries,
most people I greet, look at me like I want to take their money. 😅
Some angry reactions, while I was expecting appreciation.
Like hostel staff getting angry when I make space lifting myself and my chair from the ground by sitting on the table when the floor is being wiped.
I should have known!
"Tables are for eating, not for sitting!" 😅
Or when I quickly want to wash the pan that I left soaking in the sink, to make space for a guest that is about to wash her dishes:
"Ladies first you know!"
Are they conditioned to distrust any non-members of their clan?
If so, might this clan mentality be reason enough to reject or distrust friendliness or differences about what is to be considered right or wrong?
Or can it be a certain need for clarity what status they have towards me, in the hierarchy they grew up in?
I felt awkward being the only one keeping doors open for people behind me.
Without receiving any sign of appreciation.
Not that I seek appreciation but I consider life to be more joyful if I notice others and what they do.
Another question that came up was why people are massively waiting for a red traffic light to turn green, at every tiny side street, with totally no traffic in sight?
It felt good to show them my idea of a good example. 😊
The majority was using motorized vehicles or elevators for any short distance,
while walking or biking would keep them much fitter for free.
What worried me is why people here are still accepting to wear a face mask visiting a pharmacy.
Weren't they informed about this worldwide psychological test for obedience?
Is it because the mainstream media in particular decide what to believe, for hardworking people not finding time to compare any other news?
The few, offering me a smile when I greeted them, were mainly children.
I think because they still have time to think, about what makes them happy.
An example for the future in supporting things that make us happy.
Not the rising prices and automated payment-, security-, or any other systems that will decide for us what we need to do in the SMART cities that are being pushed.
Like in some supermarkets.
Or the first hostel where I stayed, that didn't see my request to prolong my stay, not only locking me out of my room but also locking me inside the building and this way avoiding me to report the problem.
If there wouldn't have been other guests leaving the building, I would have stayed locked up.
When I reported the problem at the reception, the only response was, "No English!"
When I suggested to speak Russian: "No Russian!"
I seemed to be considered an intruder caught in the act rather than a returning guest.
No friendly suggestion for another language or using their translater on their phone as my phone was locked in my room.
Eventually they seemed to have decided to allow me to return later for payment, repeating that I didn't "obey" the system, instead of recognizing the problems their system was causing, by locking people into the building.
So my only wish was receiving a door code to get my belongings and find myself another place.
Unfortunately this was adding up to my sadness about my dear Eva at home, who just had a serious operation suffering extreme vertigo, and was seemingly giving up on us or even on life.
My dance partners must have noticed my worries,
but one of them clearly did.
When she asked me if I was okay later on, I had a hard time controlling my tears.
When I managed to get some people together playing acro in a park in Wroclaw,
an Arabic guy who seemed to live in my country,
reminded me that, although Polish people seem to need more initiative for friendship from me,
once they trust me, they tend to be much warmer in sharing hugs than the ones in my country.
A Romanian guest, at home in my own hostel, shared his view that, not greeting back immediately, might also support the authenticity of my greeting by avoiding it to be a common ritual or a response to assumed expectations.
Now I look at people more carefully before greeting, receiving a better image of how I would like to greet them or not and it feels more natural to me.
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