Optimism…  the way things are and the way we dream things will be

So our CE in Graz is still here.. and still without its licence. The last time we went to check on the progress, the man in charge of our paperwork had lost some of our important documents. Instead of calling us and letting us know he had misplaced them, he simply took his time. They love to do that don’t they, take their time and in the process take yours as well.

   The fact that CE in Graz feels a bit stuck in the mud in some moments can be disappointing for us. We only had the one business experience under our belt, the one in Serbia that is. When we opened CE in Serbia it was peaking in its first 3 months, packed with people, talked about in the media and getting well known in the city. The situation here in Graz has been very different, we did have some really strong days with concerts and events here, however after the fines and the confiscation of our licence it went very far down, now its climbing slowly up. I feel like the people in Graz and Serbia are very different, the crowd has a very different need. Serbia always needs entertainment and excitement, it needs to always be the ‘IT’ place of the city, where everyone is going. If people get bored of you there, they stop going to your spot and go to the next hot-spot of the city. Here in Graz I feel that people take much longer to get used to something, they really need to feel comfortable, try it out, take their time and go slow. Most of the popular places in the city have been here for decades. Its like a tricky puzzle that takes a long time to complete but once its done.. its done. Once you are in, you are in to stay. The battle of CE in Graz seems to be a battle of patience.

Every day when I come into CE to work and I see those moments where it is still totally empty, I envision this place full. I look into the future and imagine what could be, when it is full of people and brimming with positive energy and exchanges, I really believe it can happen. Even if this story does not become a success in the way we like to interpret it at the moment, I am glad that we are doing this and that we decided to try. The fact that CE has few customers at the moment is really just a part of the story.

Today I also did my first day as a bike messenger. It was a very tiring day, long and exhausting, but good as well. I  have a lot of respect for the guys and girls that are working this job, its really tough on your body and on your mind. You often have a short time to get packages from one place to the next, you need to orientate yourself, not get lost, be careful in traffic, avoid the people who are walking around  and not looking, and then also push to ride as hard as you can. I did my training with Lukas, who is such an excellent cyclist and really explained things as best as he could, even though I was pretty slow, he took time, slowed down at some parts and also pushed me pretty hard. The fact is that I still feel very overwhelmed if I think about going on my own and finding all these places, I am not the most oriented person, I often get lost in really stupid ways so its pretty challenging for me to think of doing this job.