Dental appointments again. I have an extraction this time, but not bad considering. A rather unwestern thought, which J and I discuss later. Fehmi is a lovely person and a good dentist. Both are important, and clearly one would not want an incompetent dentist no matter how nice a person he was and might also avoid an unpleasant dentist even if he were technically very good. But the two are not unrelated, and Fehmi’s concern about not causing pain and his consideration over our feelings are both personal and professional. The country is emerging from lockdown and he had been worrying about the fact that his usual delivery service had been suspended along with public transportation. And so he had decided that if necessary he would drive to Nicosia with the impressions the lab would need to make our partial plates.
And it occurs to us that this quality of relationship and loyalty is, at its best, what tribalism is based on. Tribalism that is decried in the west - not least by us - because at its worst it becomes nepotism, protection of incompetence and discrimination against outsiders. But tribalism at its best is familial and protection against a purely utilitarian society in which technical and monetary criteria are all that matter.
Yes, we have complained about Cypriot tribalism, about people promoted beyond their abilities, particularly in the South where we have spent the most time. But it’s complicated.
And it occurs to us that this quality of relationship and loyalty is, at its best, what tribalism is based on. Tribalism that is decried in the west - not least by us - because at its worst it becomes nepotism, protection of incompetence and discrimination against outsiders. But tribalism at its best is familial and protection against a purely utilitarian society in which technical and monetary criteria are all that matter.
Yes, we have complained about Cypriot tribalism, about people promoted beyond their abilities, particularly in the South where we have spent the most time. But it’s complicated.
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