Bulgarian Quality

I'll start with this: Bulgarian life isn't that bad. It's not textbook Peace Corps bad, at least. No huts. The heat works - reasonably well. There is (semi-) constant electricity. There is (a limited selection of) food in the stores. The thing they really don't get though is quality. A real problem for a lifetime quality seeker. Here is the perfect example: I just came home from a night of drinks and light conversation with John (childhood baggage, state of the world, 9/11) and I wanted to use the internet. I pay for a cable connection in my house - by local standards, I pay handsomely. The average family income is 200 leva a month and I pay about 50 leva a month for my connection. I make almost 400 leva (twice the local average, but still only about 250 US dollars) a month - so it's an 1/8th of my income. Guess what - it doesn't work. Not really so abnormal here, despite the costs. There are even multiple local providers, so lack of competition isn't the problem. The problem though is a lack of expected quality. No one thinks anything about something that doesn't work. The stores don't offer to test things for you before you buy them - they just do it. They know the lack of quality control, so they press for weaknesses, try zippers, plug things in, all in order to make sure they work. It's not assumed that it will. The mentality is easy to catch, I must admit. Before tonight, this moment, I was willing to pay my provider another month for service. Why? An assumption that I'll just have to fight with the next one - and the next one is ASDL for about 35 leva a month (a 15 leva discount for a BETTER connection). There's just an assumption that there will be problems. Why fight it? Why change it? Why assume it will be any other way? It's exhausting to fight that mentality all the time. Day after day. And it's a virus - easy to catch and hard to fight. Doing my best though. Hope to have better service soon.