Reflections

We had a quiet time enjoying garden while Werner and Sieglinda completed some forms for the sale of their old car. They are waiting until this weekend to sign the papers on the new car. They are going to buy a Toyota Auris (replacement for the Corolla here in Europe) from a local Toyota dealership. Unfortunately the dealership owner and son are out of town and so they cannot sell any cars until he comes back to sign the papers. The dealership believes that the son will return this Saturday and can sign the papers. Once the papers are signed, Werner must wait until Monday or Tuesday for the car to be prepared. Can you imagine waiting for a stock car from a dealership for ½ a week.

We had some long philosophical discussions. Werner, as Pavel in the Czech Republic, told me that in general Europe wants anyone but John McCain to win. Here they are fearful that he will continue the war and some of the aggressive policies of George Bush. He also is resigned to the opinion that John McCain will win as the Democratic Party is spending all its energy beating itself up.

I asked him about whether the salary difference between CEO’s to entry level workers in Germany are getting farther and farther apart like in the US. Werner is a retired CFO and Head of Personnel for two large toy manufacturers. He said that this is a real problem in Germany. The rich keep getting richer and the poor, poorer. He said that perhaps someday we will have ghettos not for the poor but for the rich. These new ghettos will have schools, hospitals, shopping, and all the wealthy necessities of life, sealed away from the struggles of the poor a renaissance of medieval times, the aristocracy and the peasants.

Later he told me about a good book he finished recently called, “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. It’s a fiction book about some future time when there are only three classes of people. There is the rich and powerful and there is the working poor. From the ranks of the poor, young beautiful children are chosen for a special role in society. They are treated by the rich as adoring pets. Good schools, athletics, the best food are lavished on them. Besides being Toys to be played with, these special few are used as living organ donors, giving up kidneys, livers, arms or whatever the powerful need, a living gene pool. So as not to be unkind, the Pet’s have no more than 3 items taken from their bodies before they are lovingly laid to rest.


We have had many enjoyable moments letting Werner practice his English with us. He was reading us a very funny editorial his English teacher gave him. The humorous words and his over emphasis of the 'TH' sound that is missing in German made side busting laughs.