Journalists belong to special caste. Whoever starts on this thorny way, rarely change profession. The reason is simple: they are forced to proceed. Staff manager of any company apart from PR and news agencies, looking through professional history of applicant, may be alarmed by facts of his intimate affairs with mass media. Such a reputation considered to be seriously compromised. Every company and institution has something to conceal from public view. Many organizations dread of journalists, who demonstrate: first- certain level of literacy, and second- ability to prostitute this literacy, if something goes wrong. And in company sooner or later something always goes wrong. Therefore journalist, who wants to start new profession, must break wall of distrust toward person capable of collecting information and selling it. For mass media professionals there is no way back, as there is no way back for agents employed by a state to obtain secret information or individuals with serious criminal record. The journalism is as ancient as bodily prostitution, and has much in common with it.
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Pressure in form of compulsory education

In breaks we were eating together in dim canteen of education center in routine of our unemployment compulsory course. Dining hall was full of people.It was steaming stewed cabbage, which melted in the mouth and reminded me of hearty soviet meals, which were but 200 times cheaper. My companion treated cabbage with great appetite. She was attractive woman of forty, with trim figure and regular face features, which together with her lively way, made her looking more of brown-eyed Gallic type, than woman from Vorarlberg. Like many others in my surroundings, Martha was very talkative and exploded now and then with distinctly articulated passages of eloquence. Relative longevity of German lexical units and typically loud manner of speaking with low, throat voice always increased my impression of Austrian vocalizations affluence.
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Whenever I look out of window, and see a piece of blue sky, roofs with black dots of crows at antennas, and hear distant lulling clang of tram, I feel piece and sweet anticipation of new rendezvous with Vienna. I go out and gaze at surrounding curious subjects as newly born soul and wish I would walk forever and lose myself in the city, where every street is terra incognita and deja vu. But if I dwell not in parks or secluded suburban streets, but move to the center, where heart of the city beats, very soon tiredness and gloomy indifference go down as fog at me. It is monotony, that saddens me. As many other cities of the world, Vienna central streets are there mostly for shops and cafes.
Accepting my destiny of frustrated pedestrian, und would enter all boutiques that will come my way, one by one, responding to appealing grace of mannequins in shop windows. (more…)

Some time ago in group of Austrian unemployed I participated in anonymous psychological test on personal wishes and dreams. Living on allowance, people dream mainly about money.
If to go to Amazon with idea to find most popular self-improvement books, it will be books how to become rich.
It seems there is no sphere of life free of common monetary passion. But even in the midst of race for more everybody would agree, there is always at least one point of higher importance for us – our health.
Circumstances were so, that recently I came in touch with Austrian health care in the role of patient.
My health self-insurance in Austrian institution GKK was automatically canceled because of mistake one of the clerks in district social office made. After a lot of fuss between Social office and GKK, the first unwillingly produced sheet of yellow paper for temporary free medical help. The simple resolve of problem with insurance filled my heart with euphoria. I thought: “All these years were not in vain, I live in truly advanced social state and even can use free medical help!” Soon it came the chance to try my new yellow paradise ticket. (more…)

Banality often contains concentration wisdom of folks. They say, it is not shameful to be poor. Poorest can obtain social security benefits. What is poverty in Austria, how it looks, tastes and smells? Apart from concept, I wanted to know this as personal experience. Being granted with work after five years of survival training in Graz, I felt myself enormously rich  being registered as poor in Vienna. Low income is inevitable lot for many emigrants. In case of Austrians, poverty is often life philosophy. Those whose income is lower than 893 euros are considered to be poor and can buy goods on lower prices in social supermarket. There I paid visit yesterday, hungry for new experiences.
It was crowd in front of gloomy building forty minutes before opening. This crowd spoke different languages and had shopping bags on the wheels. I felt curious about miraculous presents life had in store for me and found modest size of my bag regretful. Austrian woman nearby started talking to me, and I paid attention to her exquisite make-up and numerous silver rings. She told one must pay or wait, and she preferred the second. Eventually the first two visitors were let in the store, and after half an hour we together with silver lady reached the entrance, where joined new queue to registration office. I counted sufficient quantity of social workers around, who briskly moved forth and back in front of us, but line was moving on with speed of snail. Pale woman in front of me in long Muslim dress and scarf told she was close to faint after two hours of waiting. The dark young mother behind, had three small children, who shrieked playing run and catch, what added to whole turmoil. Meanwhile I was observing faces of buyers leaving store, and there was no air of satisfaction at them. They dragged their bags with listless expression.
After my patience was significantly strained and sweat flowed on my backside under cloths, I was let in registration room. (more…)

Galina as cleanlady

Do you remember feeling of being hurt? When you are hurt, you see as if others act on evil free will. In reality we all have very little of free will. When analyzing your private history, that could be history of anybody else, you see you were often prisoner of circumstances, gripped by uncontrollable forces, and in natural flow of events you simply did what you were to do. I already used to write about my life in Bermuda triangle of Graz. Now and then descending from my mansard in the yard  with all these Bermuda cafes and restaurants around, I narrated my story to occasional companions. Austrians seemed to be very sociable. Once it was talkative bold pensioner with bicycle. Other time – teacher of history who lived downstairs. Small gray-haired astrologer from opposite house volunteered on one occasion to pay for my coffee. All of them were eager to give valuable advice how to overcome extreme situation and survive. People tend to support common point of view, and except of rare occasions their advice was the same genial idea of newspaper advertisements and cleaning jobs. (more…)

Once great Russian writer Ivan Turgenev wrote that our happiness is usually erected at pedestal of other people misfortune. Mechanism of reality is so that we can feel good only on expense of somebody else. In ethical sphere it is expressed in emotional vampire-like sucking of humans, in social and economic sphere it lays in basement of labor exploitation. Any human society has hierarchic edifice, and all social organizations support and contribute to it. From this point of view all my petitions to Austrian employment offices and applications to newspapers are not completely senseless, o, no! They confirm the universal rule: persons without income, immigrants, lonely and also those who have no native education and work experience- fill lower groups of society open to mistreat and exploitation. With their own bodies, they erect pedestal for feet of other species in social hierarchy. It would be miraculous thing if one of Austrian newspapers would willingly offer me a piece of pie. Journalism and media normally perform management functions in society to preserve its existing arrangement and power boards.

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