Why is there so much in Prague ...

My girlfriend, who works as a guide, says that the most frequent question of tourists: “Why are there so many in Prague ...” - there are options further, but usually “lame?” This question itself was very tormented by arrival.

What, I thought, for an awkward nation? No, well, of course, Prague is a city on seven hills, the hills are steep. Again, this gap is ubiquitous, for some several hundred years, anyone will break his leg on it. Well, and also sport: Czechs are a very sports people, everyone runs away, jump, ride from the mountains tirelessly, climb the mountains frantically. It is not surprising that no, no, and they will take the injury.

But the point is not even in constant injuries. The trick is that all these "lame" people are categorically not sitting at home. And so they can be seen! And grief-athletes, and grannies on the walkers, and blind-all as one in the morning they crawl out of the house on their business.

Here is a girl from a neighboring apartment, proudly flaunting in a dazzling white gypsum almost in the very neck, in a wheelchair is scratching to school.

Here the handsome man was driving two meters tall somewhere, jumping on one leg of the tram.
But a boy enters the car, with whom we go every morning on one route, only he goes to two stops before me. Something is clearly wrong with the boy: some too thin neck, strange movements, there is almost no chin, the teeth stick out all the time, and the eyes are restless, but now he also goes about his business. And I hold my gaze a little longer in him, nod a little, they say, “Dobri Dan”, he also nods nervously. And I must say, I have to shake with him more comfortably in the tram in the rain.

And grief-athletes and grannies on walkers-all as one in the morning they crawl out of the house on their business

In general, in Prague transport, entire groups of people with all kinds of features are often come across: behind development with their tutors, deaf -mute, blind. When I lived in the very center of Prague (it was seven minutes to Prague Castle), almost every morning I invariably watched how a string of blind teenagers was moving from our tram stop. Talking quietly with their accompanying, they were heading to school for the blind, which was located further along the street. And in the afternoon they all moved back - into the tram. And the main task for me was always not to crash into their system by chance, because I always yawn around, but they at least look completely ordinary passers-by, but they don’t see you and they can’t dodge you.

Four years have passed since then, and, I think, now they no longer need accompanying people. They themselves, tapping with white sticks, cut through the city. Because the city allows. You yourself quickly stop noticing all these small details. But, for example, literally every pedestrian crossing in the city has a strip of a meter covered with large pimples.

That is, the end of the pedestrian zone is obvious by touch. But traffic lights - all as one have two sound modes for the blind: they slowly tick when red, and quickly tick when the green light lights up. Every second tram - can be checked on the schedule - comes with a low landing of the platform at the entrance, that is, you can roll into it in a stroller. And inside there are buttons: you will press twice, which means that you have a stroller with a baby, and the driver knows that you need to wait for you to take it with the help of passengers. You’ll press several times, so you are a stroller and want you to be nominated for the departure. All this is written above the buttons, it is difficult to make a mistake.

Monastery gardens of the Strachovsky Monastery; Bright monsters and an excellent view of the city from "beer gardens" are flying; with the daughter of Vasya in the summer; Steps in the forest park of the Divok Shark; the streets leading from the insurance down to a small country; the best view of the bridges of the Vltava from the Poyensky gardens; yellow penguins of David Black; Tynsk Temple sticks out for houses photo: From a personal archive

And the most interesting thing is that this very support system is built not only “from above”, it grows “from below”. We are talking about the unspoken rules of conduct and mutual respect in public places that have not been spelled out anywhere.

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That is, it is clear that all mothers with strollers receive a hand of help from others, and grandmothers give way, but there are nuances.

For example, as it turned out, in a voice to talk and laugh in a public place by phone - this is directly very bad. You interfere with people around thinking. But the Czechs themselves will not tell you this, because they are restrained by the main unwritten rule: not to violate the space of a stranger. It remains only to catch fleeting oblique looks.

Looking at a stranger is also no-no. Therefore, by the way, in the first couple of years of residence in Prague, my self -esteem shaked significantly: no one looked at me on the street! Moreover, it seems that in Moscow they did not burn their eyes, but then the difference turned out to be striking: even though you are in a robe, even in linen, more like a cursory, polite look when colliding in the doorway, you will not get.

The first couple of years in Prague I had a self -esteem: no one looked at me on the street

Just do not confuse this with indifference: the cozy prague does not look like that huge metropolis where, having fallen, for example, in the subway from the escalator you can stay, and people will, hurry, go around and step over. No, here everyone will be interrupted and you will be collected back. And I also remember when I just arrived, I immediately appreciated the main national way of movement of Prazhan - trams. And joyfully rode on them, enthusiastically making complex routes and calculating the most convenient chairs in all types of wagons. I had single front ones with my favorite places, at the very exit. For some reason they rarely sat on them. Here, I thought how convenient, and passengers are fools.

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Until one day, the blind man has landed on my knees. Well, that is, some kind of gentleman entered the stop and the Summing of the Sumper began to sit down right on me. Of course, I somehow turned out from under him, apologizing, sweating, choosing his fallen stick and with all the fibers feeling the disapproving atmosphere thickened in the carriage. And since then I have learned another unspoken rule: do not sit in the damned front places. And if you sit down, Zorko is a monitor of all those entering the subject of prevailing rights to this place. So I do.

For someone else, this whole internal coordinate system is a “big small” difficulty that must be overcome in order to adapt. The Czechs themselves fly off their own from strangers, reading markers of behavior, including attitude to weak social groups.
But, if you have mastered the nuances of the cultural code and fit into this system, you will not be lost. Therefore, by the way, I am not so scared of the prospect of aging here. In the tram, if anything, they will definitely drag, put me and pick up the fallen key.

People with Prague Prague Prague Social Assistance