Israeli bureaucracy and inefficiency can drive new arrivals from the States absolutely bonkers. The day after my advent, my aunt and I drove to a bank in nearby Petah Tikva to set up a new account. We waited for about 45 minutes to get called for a personal teller, who, just my luck, was a hot blonde in sexy glasses named something Hebraic like “Etti.” Turns out, I was being too hasty: my ID number was not even listed in the system yet. “According to our records,” said the winsome Etti, “You don’t exist. Maybe in a few days come back. In the meantime, you could go commit a felony or something.” She also suggested I ask for her on my return, to avoid the wait. Aha — a way to bypass the system! (and not to mention, to check out Etti again.)
But the idea of “asking for someone” seems a rather inequitable standard for business. I don’t mind waiting, so long as the service is efficient and each customer handled equally. Is it fair for me to skip the queue because I know the name of the teller? (Certainly not in the American egalitarian sense.) Having said that, I know that an Israeli would jump at the opportunity to get ahead of another. So should it be a case of “when in Rome?”
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