I’d returned from Düsseldorf two nights earlier. Since I normally like to travel as light as possible and quickly grab my carry-on luggage after my plane lands, I set off on my five-day trip to Germany with one bag and one small suitcase large enough to fit on the plane. Everything went exactly as planned on my trip to Germany. The plane landed, I quickly went through passport control, which wasn’t long in line, and was out in five minutes. I wasted no time getting from the airport to my meeting.
On my return, while packing my luggage, I had to decide. If I tried to take the honey I’d been given as a gift, I wouldn’t be able to carry either the bag or the suitcase with me; security would immediately confiscate it. So, I had to bring the bag with the honey on the plane, and while I was at it, I also had to bring the suitcase, which was adding weight. Since I’m an Elite member, they even put ‘priority’ tags on both the bag and the suitcase.
After disembarking on Friday evening, the nightmare began. The small suitcase and the bag weren’t there. There were five or six other people in the same situation. We went to the lost and found together and started the process. We were informed that our luggage hadn’t been loaded onto the plane and that it would be sent on another flight from Düsseldorf and delivered to our homes. I wanted to leave the airport immediately, but this delay caused me to leave an hour and a half later. The next day, I was informed that my luggage would be sent home on Sunday.
Suitcase, but no bag
Last Sunday, I started with an early morning run along the Bosphorus. Feeling exhilarated at having resumed exercise after a long time, I returned home and went about my daily tasks. My hope for that day was to retrieve my suitcase and bag, as they had told me in the lost and found. While I was working from home, my phone rang, and a gruff voice told me, “We’re bringing the suitcase,” and tried to get directions. Despite being in a central location, the courier, who had trouble understanding, finally delivered my suitcase. Of course, there was a problem. Normally, they should have brought a small suitcase and a bag. They only brought the suitcase, but nothing about the bag. I immediately called the lost and found department to try to understand the situation. The lady on the phone said, “Your bag went to Ankara. If you want, you can call the Ankara lost and found department and ask them about it.” Naturally, I asked, “There are two problems here. First, my suitcase arrived. Why didn’t it come with my suitcase? Why did you put it on separate flights? And second, why didn’t my bag go to Ankara? Shouldn’t it have come directly from Düsseldorf to Istanbul?” As I expected, the person on the phone couldn’t answer my questions. Meanwhile, the person on the phone said my bag was in Ankara, while the person on WhatsApp kept saying it was still in Düsseldorf.
Disastrous News from Taksim
I spent Sunday wasting my time on this suitcase. I finally clarified this and sat down to work again, when suddenly, I received news of the horrific bombing on İstiklal Street. I was deeply saddened and shocked. I remember lamenting, “Another bombing? This was terrible!” The first thing that came to my mind was the barber I’d been going to since I was a kid (for nearly 40 years), who had a shop near the explosion. I called him immediately, and he answered the phone. “Serhan, you know I don’t normally work on Sundays, but I opened the shop for a special client who was about to leave for England, and we were in the shop when the explosion happened. There was a huge explosion. Thank God, nothing happened to my family or anyone in the immediate area; we’re fine. Thank you for calling,” he reassured me, and we hung up with good wishes.
However, as I mentioned in the introduction, examining this horrific and multifaceted terrorist incident is too complex to be the subject of this article. My day, which had turned into a nightmare with the news of the Taksim attack, continued with my personal misfortunes.
A few hours later, I went to visit my father. Since the distance was short, I hopped on my motorcycle and drove off. After dinner and a chat, I started my way home.
The opposite of the invisible accident
I was driving relatively slowly along Nispetiye Avenue in Etiler (for those not from Istanbul, let me remind you that Nispetiye is a single-lane road), when a taxi from the opposite lane made a very sudden U-turn and suddenly cut me off. At that moment, I reacted quickly, but because the distance was so short, the brakes weren’t enough. In a split second, I realized I had two options: either hit the taxi and fly off the motorcycle or stall the motorcycle and come to a stop.
I made a quick decision and leaned the bike over. My left leg was both dragged to the ground and trapped under the bike. With another split-second decision, I pushed it with my free right leg, preventing the bike from falling back onto my leg after the initial impact (yes, the bike was bouncing on my leg). This reaction probably saved my leg from breaking.
After the accident, I quickly got up and fixed the bike. The taxi driver got out, and other nearby bikers also arrived. The taxi driver, who spoke with a thick Eastern accent, and I had the following conversation (I started the conversation):
– What kind of turn is this? Is it possible to make a U-turn like that on this road?
– I do it all the time; everyone does it.
– Are you kidding me? You don’t make U-turns like that on this road.
The two bikers who approached us, to my surprise, supported the taxi driver. The courier was the first to speak, saying, “Yeah, man, everyone makes U-turns like that around here.” (Having previously witnessed bikers suddenly gather and attack drivers, this behavior shocked me. Later, when I analyzed the incident, I concluded that they were supporting the taxi driver, whom they perceived as a veteran, with a classist attitude because I was riding a Vespa. Yet, in this case, they clearly saw that the taxi driver was 100% wrong and was attempting to kill a motorcyclist. Despite this, they chose to support the taxi driver. I experienced once again the extent of classism and partisanship in this country.)
“These sort of things happen, man.”
I turned to the biker and said, “Why are you interrupting? Can’t you see the car’s position? Would you make a sudden U-turn like that from here? Isn’t that an attempt to kill someone?” Then I asked the taxi driver, “Would you make a sudden U-turn like that on this road? Didn’t you see me?”
The taxi driver said, “I swear, I didn’t see it. These things happen, man.” His words, which normalized a fatal mistake, completely angered me: “What do you mean? I’m coming from the other side with my headlights on. How could you not see me? Are you an idiot? Come on, you didn’t see me, how could you make a U-turn like that?” I snapped.
This time, the driver said, “You can’t talk to me like that,” and made a move to approach me, trying to portray me as both guilty and powerful. I was about to lose control at that moment. Just as I was starting to consider taking off my helmet and slashing his nose, my self-control kicked in, saying, “It’s not like me to do what I feel,” and I pulled myself together. The following words came out: “How am I supposed to talk? You almost killed someone a moment ago. If you want, we can call the police and have them investigate.”
He was acting reflexively
The motorcycle courier intervened, saying, “Such things happen. No need to make such a big deal about it.” Then he turned to the taxi driver and said, “You can’t afford a single part of this motorcycle. So, you better get out of here as soon as possible.” (We’re in danger of death, the motorcyclist warns the taxi driver, saying, “You can’t afford the Vespa part.”)
After the motorcyclist’s warning, the taxi driver (still feeling justified) quickly got into the taxi and, in front of me, maneuvered into my lane and in front of me in two maneuvers. So, I started the engine, bypassed the taxi driver who had just attempted to kill me, and continued on my way. Of course, a lot of options ran through my mind at that moment: taking pictures, filing a lawsuit, etc. But because I truly believed that dwelling on and pursuing this incident would take years, yield zero results, and would only have a negative psychological impact, so I did absolutely nothing and continued on my merry way. Then I went home. I applied tincture of iodine to my wound and iced my ankle and leg. I’m so glad I did. The swelling in my leg went down the next day.
Midnight Express Courier
Two days later, on Tuesday, around midnight (around 11:30 PM), my phone rang insistently. I, who was asleep, jumped out of bed and answered it. Another rude courier said, “We’ll bring the suitcase. What’s your exact address?” Feeling a little dazed (due to my drowsiness), I told the person on the phone, “We were told the bag would be delivered today, but is it being delivered at this hour? It’s almost midnight. It’s shameful. You’re losing the bag and then torturing people like this.” Even though I added that this wasn’t his fault, but his company’s, the person on the phone arrogantly replied, “I’ve been working since 9:00 AM. If you don’t want me to bring it, you can pick it up yourself.” This infuriated me even more and I snapped, “Don’t bring it if it bothers you, I’ll report you.” He then hung up on me. I called again, but he didn’t answer. He called back five minutes later, and I told him very firmly where to leave the bag and told him not to bother me anymore. After hanging up, I went downstairs and retrieved the bag. Also, note the delivery guy’s “I’ll leave the bag if you don’t want me to.”
People Who Have Turned into Live Wires
I’ve tried to describe the tragic situation of our country to you, condensing it into a single Sunday. The airport staff in Düsseldorf who forgot to load my luggage onto the plane, the rude couriers who delivered the suitcase, the woman who planted the bomb and those who aided and abetted her, the dozens of undercover police officers working in the area who couldn’t identify the bomber despite hanging around for 45 minutes (of course, none of us know what the intelligence side of the matter was), the taxi driver who would be imprisoned for attempted murder if he drove the same way in a developed country, and the motorcyclists around him who supported him. At the heart of the problem lies people who are poorly trained, who don’t perform their duties properly, and who have become ticking time bombs because they work under poor conditions.
The solution is crystal clear. We need to provide people with good conditions from the moment they are born, educate them well, and raise them according to the ideal of a good person. Well-educated people who are at peace with themselves can completely change this depressing environment we find ourselves in. Of course, educating people properly and changing their living conditions is a task that requires continuous work across generations. However, only efficient and visionary states can provide this environment. In this regard, it’s worth considering the Scandinavian countries. Their systems aren’t perfect either; they have many inefficiencies, but despite everything, they represent, in my opinion, the best examples of social welfare states in the world. As I’ve repeatedly stated in previous articles, education needs to be approached multidimensionally.
The Necessity of Home Schooling
This isn’t just about educating children at school. In addition to school education, in addition to this:
1) It’s essential to provide a comfortable environment for children up to the age of 10 and provide them with the most basic information (like a Life Guide).
2) Parental education is crucial. Parents need to be continuously educated. Parents need to be educated before and after having children. Even as kids grow up (including during adolescence), parents need to be continuously educated and informed, along with the children themselves.
3) The training of educators is also critical. Educators need to refresh their knowledge annually and be informed about how to better educate children, both in terms of methodology and course content. We also need to teach educators how to instill universal values and support children’s personal development.
Now, after giving you some tips on what an ideal education system should be like, I’d like to share an example that illustrates our current environment:
Silence in response to our demand for added value
We contact a vocational high school in the region to train students for our wind power plant. The high school principal welcomes us very warmly. I tell him that we can help with renewable energy course content and that we can hire 5-10 interns each year and agree on at least two of those who meet our criteria (with their permission, of course) to help them begin their careers as technicians. The increasing difficulty of finding qualified and disciplined professionals, despite the population growth, further illustrates our dilemma. It’s clear that in addition to training these interns in professions, we will also ensure they receive the best possible training through the training programs (and certifications) we provide. In other words, we will be changing the fate of these children.
The school principal welcomed the idea very well, was excited, and despite being a good administrator in my opinion, he was conflicted, saying, “I need to ask the Directorate of National Education before embarking on such a project.” After our first meeting at the school, we wanted to reach a conclusion quickly, but we haven’t heard anything from the school for a month and a half. Despite repeated calls and enquiries, they haven’t responded. Normally, they should be pressuring us, believing they want to ensure the best possible education for their students, but the opposite is happening. They’re struggling to get approval from the Ministry of National Education. Why?
If I were to answer this question, I’d have to write three more blog posts. I’ll stop here and leave it to you. I just want to emphasize that vocational training is also crucial at this stage, and while it takes years to train a good technician, companies like ours can invest in this and, with patience, ensure they develop. Of course, the fundamental foundation is laid between the ages of 0 and 10. If parents and educators know how to raise children, vocational training can be provided on this solid foundation, and everything falls into place.
Essentially, all professions require training and certification. Now, if the taxi driver who attempted to kill me had received training in the “details of taxi driving,” such as safe driving, providing good service, and proper speech, and had received his certification, he wouldn’t have made such a U-turn and would have known how to talk to the other party when he made a mistake. If he wasn’t mentally suited to be a taxi driver, he wouldn’t have received his certification and would have been directed to another profession.
Do we have to endure the hardship these taxi drivers endure? Just look at the taxi drivers in England and ours. There’s a world of difference.
The number of people who have become ticking time bombs because of the poor environment they live in and the failing education system is increasing at an exponential rate in our country and surrounding countries. Then they ask me, “Would you want to have children in such an environment?”
Of course I do. But I will continue to do everything I can to improve the environment we find ourselves in while having children. I believe I can make a difference, at least in my own community.
Tag: education
