[img]96|left|||no_popup[/img]Dateline Jerusalem – Only in Israel. Whenever I go supermarket shopping, I have my purchases delivered because I do not own a car. One of the deliverymen realized I was in the process of moving. He offered to take my boxes from the old apartment to the new because he owned a van. Once he fixed my TV when I had problems with the cable company. Another market deliveryman had several deliveries to make but waited for the checker to finish my order because he remembered where I lived and wanted to go there first. Almost everywhere I go, the checkers remember my name and my address. Most of the time they fill out the delivery form for me. This week, the man who owns the flower shop nearby left his store unattended to carry a large potted plant to my new apartment. He wasn't worried about anyone stealing flowers while he was gone. He said his customers can wait for him to return. Once, one of the employees at the pharmacy insisted on driving me home when I had heavy packages. She took a break to do so. . The pharmacist even delivered a TV to me during his lunch hour. I never ask people to do these things for me. They do so out of the goodness of their heart.
May I Counsel You?
When changing my address with the electric company, one of the clerks gave me unsolicited landlord/tenant advice. She said I needed to protect myself from being taken advantage of by the landlord. When my favorite taxi driver is in another city and cannot pick me up, he tells me what another driver should charge. If the other does not agree to that amount, my taxi driver will find another taxi driver to pick me up at the good rate. When I needed crutches to get around when my foot was in a cast, the taxi driver picked me up from the hospital and drove me all over town at night without charging me anything extra to find a store that had crutches. When I visit my doctor, no matter how many people are waiting to see him, he spends the first 10 to 15 minutes discussing U.S. and Israeli politics with me. Then he asks about my illness.
Only in Israel will you find complete strangers greeting one other with wishes for a peaceful day. Where else would you be asked to come for dinner by someone you only met minutes ago? Where else would you feel safe enough to accept such an invitation from a stranger? In terms of safety, there may be rocket fire on occasion, but crime rarely exists other than a simple burglary. Parents think nothing of sending small children off on their own to play in the neighborhood park. I often have walked home alone after midnight without fear of being assaulted, robbed or raped. People in Israel do not experience the crime that is rampant in the United States. We might have terrorism from neighboring countries, but we do not worry about our children being shot at in movie theaters or at school.
Sometimes Israelis have a reputation for being pushy and aggressive. However, that person will be the one whom you can count on when things get tough. Israelis may be thought of as being hard on the outside, but they really are soft and kind-hearted. They will go out of their way to be helpful.
L'hitraot. Shachar