The Romanian police are to be given ballet lessons! I kid you not. For Romanian speakers the link to the press report is http://www.evz.ro/articole/detalii-articol/793414/Lectii-de-balet-pentru-politisti/ . The idea is that it’s supposed to teach them grace and give a pleasing appearance while they’re trapped between rows of impatient drivers honking their horns, suffocated by dust and car exhaust fumes. I suppose it can’t do any harm. But quite frankly, I’d rather they learnt how to give hand signals that are actually identifiable instead of flapping their hands in a fan movement, rotating their wrists or wiggling their fingers at you. And how about a proper halt gesture that no-one can pretend to ignore? Or, a novel idea this one, I know, how about pulling over drivers who are speeding, jumping red lights, lane-hopping, driving on the pavement, driving on the tram-lines, dodging pedestrians on the zebra crossings, jabbering on the mobile phone, or just double or triple parked. There are times when the police are out in force stopping drivers to fine them – it seems to coincide with the last few days of the month, just before pay day when the pocket begins to feel a bit empty. On the other hand, they do have a miserable job. This must be why no-one with an IQ much over 70 seems to get recruited. On top of the thankless task of pirouetting in the traffic all day, they’ll apparently also be asked to make an inventory of the pot holes. Well, that’s a job for life here, isn’t it? I should think it will take them a week just to do our road. Or maybe they will classify the whole street as one large pot-hole. And how will they deal with the pot-hole that’s repaired on a Monday and is back again on a Friday? There’s a very good example in Piata Charles de Gaulle, a rather fine 19th C cobbled square, where they’ve repaired the same patch three times this year already. Will they count that as one pothole or three? And what about the sinkholes that are appearing in some of the new roads around Baneasa that were only finished 3-4 months ago? Strictly speaking, they’re not potholes at all since the road surface is still intact – it’s just that in patches, there’s nothing underneath. The only people happy with this situation are the construction companies who have plenty of business. I wonder though why they are so keen to advertise their names on large hoardings not 5 metres from the holes and bumps in the roads they’ve just built. Anybody contemplating hiring a construction company would be well-advised to stay away from them.
