Greece: Life in a time of Troika

Gone are the days of going out and shopping, trouble-free travel and early evening drinks in outdoor cafes. Bills and surgery have been postponed, and no more private tuition for the kids. Laid-low by the crisis, Greeks have learned to rein in their lifestyles, and everyday living in the country has become a sad affair.

The typical housewife’s shopping basket does not fill up like it did before the crisis — and the figures are there to prove it. Only 12% of consumers spend more than 100 euros when they go to the supermarket. Even those who go very often are avoiding branded products. The statistics in a report on a sample of 11,000 people by the MRB polling agency clearly show that the 2010 domestic purchases are very different from the shopping baskets of previous years. Consumers are buying starch in the form of rice and flour, while 40% of them have given up on detergents produced by major brands. Only the organic produce sector is still holding its own along with locally grown fruit and vegetables.

The crisis has put paid to the stereotypical Greek who is out late every night: the Hellenic peoples have rediscovered the joys of cocοoning and are none too eager to eat out in restaurants — a major headache for the President of the Greek restaurant owners union who told us: "there are days when we don’t get a single customer." In his restaurant in the port of Piraeus, he continues to be amazed by the the fall-off in sales: "on Monday I took in 350 euros, on Tuesday it was down to €230, on Wednesday I took in €400 — and all of that in a context where my basic daily expenses amount to €1,500."

He believes that business owners’ incomes have fallen by 55% and adds that everyone is hoping that this year’s tourist season will be a good one. But close to 6,000 restaurants have already shut down. And between now and the end of the year, another 20,000 to 25,000 are planning to close their doors! Even the cheap food sector, which has seen sales decline 30% to 35%, has been hit by the crisis.

As for health care, "we’ll see about that later." Who would have thought that this type of remark would become so common in a country of hypohondriacs which used to be awash in medicines? There has been a marked decline in sales of vitamins and antibiotics. Blood tests, x-rays and mammographies are being postponed indefinitely.

The same goes for power bills. Some Greeks simply do not have the money, while others are seizing the opportunity to "forget" pay. The national power company has announced that it now has 200 million euros of outstanding debts. And that is not all. The few positive points highlighted by the survey — i.e. that Greeks are now more likely to avoid driving — do little to brighten a gloomy picture.

The news is particularly bad in the education sector, where private tuition, a veritable institution which has enabled Greeks to overcome some of the problems posed by a gap-ridden education system has experienced an unprecedented slump. According to Giorgos Petropoulos of the private tutors union, "the decline has now reached 40%, which is especially worrying for students in the last three years of secondary school."

In short, the Greeks are intent on spending less and cutting costs wherever they can. Pensioners, who now meet for coffee in daycare centres, have abandoned the outdoor cafés in Athens which are now too pricey. In supermarkets, shelves of discounted products continue to empty quickly while more expensive merchandise is left virtually untouched.

I just got back from Athens a couple months ago. A couple observations:

1.The cafes in the center of Athens were very full on the weekends - not during the middle of the week, but that’s true here as well.

2.Many times when I went out to buy something the shop I was going to was closed. They seem to close their shops randomly most of the day and then open them late afternoon when everyone is out walking. If they want business it seems like they would keep it open.

3. These random Metro strikes make it very inconvenient to go anywhere. If you get a day without a Metro strike and you travel across town to your favorite store and that store is closed...it’s infuriating.

4. The taxi drivers at the airport are definitely making money - a lot of it. Recently the train and the buses to the airport have been on strike a lot. It cost 68 euros to get a taxi to Monastiraki (downtown Athens).

He believes that business owners’ incomes have fallen by 55% and adds that everyone is hoping that this year’s tourist season will be a good one.

Most people don't want to travel to countries with riots.

I was in Greece for 10 days in 1977, and I loved it. Now, if we were going to spend $10,000 on a dream of our life trip, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, etc. would not be on our list. Come to think of it, there are very few places that would be worth spending that amount of money to see, even aside from the safety factor.

Good Luck Greece. Be good friends, and try not to take us down with you.

This is already what it is like in the USA.

A client of ours owns a popular restaurant that has been in his family for 3 generations, going on 4, as his daughter steps into the manager position. He has had to end lunch service on weekdays. It was 35% of his expenses and 25% of _revenues_. BTW, he considers himself *a socialist* and has been known to proclaim that zerO is too conservative. However, as his own ox is now gored, he has become worried, anxious and less bombastic when speaking of politics.

Every housewife I know has been shopping at Aldis for a couple of years, now, even those who normally won’t make the 45 mile drive from our rural county. I see folks at Walmart who used to loudly denigrate the place. A friend is taking me to the Amish produce auction this Friday for a *fun* excursion. This is someone who doesn’t even garden, let alone can or dehydrate. I make sure to start a nice containerized tomato plant for her every Spring and she now actually grows a couple on her own in a tiny garden in her yard. She also collects *reviews* of various discount grocery stores around the county and once a month, makes the rounds, if they have enough good reviews. Those reviews come from other women doing the same, as, I am sure, does the idea of going to the produce auction.

Not only is everyone gardening, people are almost absurdly grateful for the gift of tomato plant suitable for containerizing and they are asking a lot of questions about gardening if they are new to it. They listen intently to any information, too. I know women who just stopped buying produce when the prices soared this winter after the freeze in Mexico, declaring salads an unaffordable luxury. These are not people in dire financial straits. I know affluent women who are going to be pressure canning for the first time this year. Prepping is mainstream, at all income levels.

The best thrift shop is run by a Lutheran church and some Saturdays it is so crowded that you have to wait by the checkout for an empty cart.

Everyone is taking a staycation or short trips to visit family and calling it a vacation. The better restaurants are half empty where they used to need reservations.

People search out individuals who can do useful things, like repair an awning, instead of running to the local tent and awning company and definitely instead of buying a new one. Guys who used to be hobby carpenters are now doing remodeling for others as a second job and for an extra income stream.

Serious medical procedures are being done, but elective surgeries have been down for several years. The large medical center in our area closed off at least one surgical floor at least two years ago, maybe more and maybe longer ago. People of means are foregoing some *preventative* tests, just because of all the administrative hoops involved, although, for some, it is to avoid OOP payments.

Everyone has Netflix and fewer and fewer folks have cable or satellite TV. I haven’t heard anyone talking about going to a first-run movie in a theater for years.

Again, these are educated middle-class people with businesses and assets. They are very worried.

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