Gallina Blanca Dumpster // Fabra i Coats by José LeGrant

The plastic pasta that littered the streets of Barcelona before Christmas was seen abandoned on January 15th, 2010, in Sant Andreu. We wonder if the dumping also happened with the friendly support of the Ajuntament.

Aviso: BCN Week wants your photos. Each month we'll print the best submission we receive, and put runner-up entries on the website. Don't be a chicken, participate: edit@bcnweek.com.

EDITORS' LETTER

For 20 years, researchers at the University of Michigan have been studying which world citizens boast the highest levels of “subjective well-being”. That’s “happiness” to us laymen, friends. Yes, academics have taken an interest in our feelings - how we’re coping, if you will, with the modern world. Top of the list from the 1999-2002 happiness survey? Nigeria, Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador, and Puerto Rico.

You’ll note that these places aren’t exactly heading the GDP-per-capita list, which might go a ways to explaining why the “happiness” results get no more contemplation than the five minutes we allot to Belén Esteban’s new face.

Determining who has the best “work ethic”, however... now that’s interesting. Ironically, people have extended conversations about this over the water cooler: “The U.S. is rich because people work so hard.” “Spain’s not living up to her potential because we don’t want to work.” “Catalunya is successful because we put our noses to the grindstone. It’s the lazy Andaluces that drag us down.” Not only is a “good work ethic” capitalism’s version of the merit badge, it also lets you explain away so much, and so vaguely, about economic performance.

Dare we step back and take in the full expanse of this performance canvas? Isn’t it odd, for instance, that we don’t hear much about the work ethic of the illegal immigrant? They contribute to the national economy. Or does indentured servitude preclude having a good work ethic, no matter how long your hours? Can we allow ourselves to question whether the ends justify the means (page 7), or what constitutes artistic productivity (page 8), or whether it’s a sin to feel ambivalent about working at all (page 9)? The ethics of work: now there’s a subject worthy of taking a coffee break to discuss.

Los Editors

READERS' LETTERS

Civisme de Veritat

QUEJAS

Two friends of mine just got robbed at knife point, including being pinned down on the ground, in the Grec gardens on a Sunday lunchtime. They are not going to go to the police BECAUSE THEY KNOW THE POLICE DO FUCK ALL ABOUT ROBBERIES IN THIS CITY.

This is an excerpt from a friend’s recent email (entitled, “i hate movistar... and orange... and every other provider...”):

ok, i finally found out why my stupid mobile is not working since the last 4 weeks!!! movistar gave someone else MY NUMBER. orange can’t do anything ... neither can movistar ... i can’t even change the provider as i have an open “incidencia” ... which means they can’t cancel my contract while they are investigating. my only option is right now that the other person who is using my line as well (getting ALL sms and phone calls for me) is complaining as well - to movistar.
so, please please call me EVERY SINGLE DAY asking for me and mentioning my number!!! “can I speak to [insert friend name here], please?” “isn’t this number 6XXXXXXXX?”
please please do so... and let’s drive this person mad so that he/she will complain as well!!! FUC K MOVISTAR - FUC K ORANGE!!!
THANK YOU!!!! hopefully this problem is solved when i get back!

Per què tenim carrils bici si només serveixen per crear nous aparcaments per a camions i per a gent que espera que la seva parella surti del Caprabo?

I’ve just been suckered into a purchase at El mos, that chain bakery, for the last time. Their products are trash, but this one was so blessedly close to my office, and convenient for merienda sandwiches... until the price of said sandwiches went up 50% in six months. And they continue to rise, with a lovely 30- cent tack-on since last week. Hay crisis, you know.

¿Estás de broma? ¿El gran Barcelona WiFi tiene horario de apertura?

Si la gente me tienen que robar, ¿no podrían dejarme la bolsa cercana? Es una putada tener que andar las calles buscando mis tarjetas en las basureras.

I cannot believe the metro prices went up again at the beginning of January. Is the transit authority aware that 20% of the country is out of work and therefore it’s probably not a great idea to raise the price of basic services? In a related complaint, in the metro at Sant Antoni the other day, I was approached by an indignant Catalan man who couldn’t find the T- 10 purchasing option on the ticket-buying machine that takes cash. It was only on the one that takes credit cards. So, for however long that was up there, people without a credit card were unable to buy a T- 10. They could only buy the much more offensively expensive bitllet senzill, or shell out several dozens of Euros for a T-Mes or a 50/30.

AGRADECIMIENTOS

I would like to agradecer the “I got robbed” guy on Pelai for several things. One, the best pity-me face in the business. Two, terrific work ethic. He’s out there every day, rain or shine, and often works until well after the sun has gone down. Three, for his inspiring ambition: he’s constantly trying to better himself and his cause. Up until a couple of weeks ago, his sign said only, “I got robbed,” on one side, and, “Me han robado,” on the other. But last week he decided to kick his “unfortunate foreigner” gig up a notch. It must have been quite an epiphany when he realized that the most unfortunate foreigners can’t spell. He went into immediate action, and I think I almost wet myself when I came down the street and discovered that his sign now read, “I got robbeded,” and, “Me han robadado”. Of course, that was nothing compared with today’s coup de grâce: an even newer old'looking sign that says, “I got robbbed.” Oh yeah, baby: he went there. Straight for the triple consonant. Now that is bold.

It has come to the attention of our staff that some Barcelona residents do not find the city’s civisme laws entirely adequate. That is, by choosing only to penalize normal city behavior (drinking, urinating, dropping a fiver for a BJ), the city is missing out on a panoply of more subtle, yet equally misanthropic, social assaults. While legal experts and Ajuntament budget planners may doubt the prosecutability of these lesser offenses, and therefore their revenue-earning potential, we here at BCN Week are ready to help you navigate these treacherous urban waters via those old standbys: complaint and conversation. Enviad vuestras quejas a edit@bcnweek.com.