Selection: Michalis Katsigeras

STRESSED ATHENIANS: (From the column “Notes of an Athenian”) I was keenly impressed by a piece of information passed on by a pharmacist friend about the large quantities of tranquilizers which Athenians have been consuming lately. The various pills are being consumed by people in Athens with the same zeal shown by stressed people in New York. I am not aware, however, that the intensity of our Greek life is so strong as to justify resorting to tranquilizers in order to be able to maintain our emotional and spiritual calmness. Our Greek climate is mild, the atmosphere quite dry, even in winter, and our technological civilization has not (yet) managed to infiltrate our nervous system. And let us not forget, the workload of the average Athenian is not so heavy as to give rise to psychological imbalances. There is, fortunately perhaps, something “Oriental” in our system of work, which makes it more comfortable and tranquil than that of the people who live north of us and the Americans... Good company and perhaps some quality retsina is, in my opinion, one of the best and most harmless tranquilizers.