August’s ghost island - Paula Manoli-Gray

As the calendar changes its date to August, you can almost feel the weight of the sudden hush that descends across the island. All around, the collective sound of shop doors slamming is accompanied with the turning over of the 'closed' sign. We are firmly out of action for August!

August is indeed a peculiar month for us. It is the height of the tourist season and the most defining month of summer, so instead of livening up and getting into gear, we decide to close the entire island down.

The constant thrum of construction work suddenly goes quiet; the roads empty as though the end of the world is nigh, and even those who do stay open or at work slow right down as though their batteries are dying.

When I used to work in an office, August was a real pleasure as I would never take time off then but everyone else would. The drive to work was a dream with no traffic jams and a much quicker journey time, and it was much quieter in the office too. Bliss! But that is probably the only perk of August as when it comes to getting anything else done you either have to accept that August is a complete write-off or go crazy.

Forget anything involving paper work, home improvements, legal matters and other assorted necessary jobs. You literally have to put your life on pause. I always cross my fingers that my air conditioning doesn't decide to conk out on me in August, as finding someone to come and fix it is almost impossible, and if you do find them, they come with a premium just because 'it is August'.

And once again, I think of the tourists! They must find it baffling and highly inconvenient when they try to go to the bank or do some shopping only to find that half of the town is having an extended siesta. I don't know how I would feel if I came to a holiday town only to find that it was instead a ghost town and I couldn't get the most out of it.

So, because of this tradition of powering down in August, everyone does just that, which creates a vicious circle of always powering down… every August. Why should one shop stay open when all the rest are shut and most of the population is on holiday either on island or abroad?

I always brace myself for August and try to remember not to order anything online as it won't arrive until at least September. I ensure that I am fully stocked and prepared for any household disasters and try to put myself in that shut down mode too, because if you can't beat them, you just don't have much choice but to join them… off the roads, out of the shops and on to the beach!

First appeared in The Cyprus Weekly 02/08/14

Spread the word - LPN'S in town..

A leopard never changes its spots - Paula Manoli-Gray

As I write this I am quite angry at the way my sister and her husband have been treated, and it has reignited memories of all the times that I too have experienced similar treatment and service.

I am talking about one of the areas that we are particularly lacking in on the island and one that I am sure will resonate with every reader… customer service.

I had genuinely thought that after the crisis hit, businesses/organisations had become more humble, and that there had been a shift in attitudes. You see, prior to the crisis, the island had a peculiar back-to-front attitude with its customers, whereby instead of the organisation/business being grateful for the custom, the customer was made to feel that the business/organisation was actually doing them a favour instead!

This was evident in the shoddy service, the way that customers were spoken down to, the lack of good exchange and return policies and the presence of one of two attitudes; either stuck-up or indifferent.

Some years ago I went to cash a cheque in a bank (one of the Greek ones). The cashier was talking on her mobile phone and waved me over dismissively. She then started the process of cashing my cheque whilst planning her bank holiday weekend with her 'koumera'. I heard every detail and the conversation was continuing way after she had served me. Instead of moving on, I stood there waiting for to finish and acknowledge me as a customer and human being but it didn't happen. So I interrupted her conversation and told her that it was incredibly unprofessional of her. She started shouting, I started shouting and the manager came out to see what was going on. At this point you are probably thinking he would apologise and discipline his employee. Instead, his response was "what's your problem, she served you didn't she?" I shouted at him, he shouted at me, the cashier shouted at me. It was unbelievable and I have never set foot in any of the bank's branches since.

My sister's unfortunate experience this past week was with a well-known estate agent with whom she had her flat registered with for rental. Without asking her or arranging a meeting, the female agent called her and told her that a deposit had been taken and the tenants were to move in at the start of August. At this point, a family member had decided to take the flat so my sister had to let the agent know that it was no longer for let. There ensued a chain of abusive emails from the agent and even emails from the prospective tenant who had paid the deposit and was told the landlords were no longer interested. My sister was bullied, harassed and intimidated. When her husband went to collect the keys from the agency, the agent was again rude and insulting to him. At that point the manager came out and can you guess what happened? That's right, instead of apologising for his employee's disgusting manner, he proceeded to also abuse my brother-in-law who was left incredulous. He told me he had never been spoken to in such a manner in all his life and left furious and shocked.

And so there we have it, the attitude of 'we are doing YOU a favour' is still prevalent and it doesn't look like the leopard will change its spots anytime soon.

Kids Fun in Cyprus

                                                                 Kids fun in Cyprus

September