Thank you for the fine arrogance story. Along the lines of your airport comparison, attached is another shameful blemish on the airport. I wholeheartedly agree that the airport is the first image of a country to the visitor. The dungeon like interior structure for processing the arriving passengers certainly doesn't leave much of an image.

I wrote a story in Draugas on robber like taxi fees from the airport to downtown Vilnius. Also that the taxicabs are drenched with nicotine odor and loud blaring Russian radio music listened by mostly Russian speaking taxicab drivers, causing my daughter to ask whether we really have arrived in Lithuania.

There is no cash pay-phone at the airport. To make even a local call one has to buy an expensive multiple call pay phone card, and how would a non-Lithuanian speaking visitor find out about that. Moreover, lack of an official non-commercial welcome and information center or booth to the arriving non-Lithuanian speaking foreigner is another striking example of not understanding the impact of an image that a foreign visitor receives.

On arrogance. Several months ago I had arranged a visit between the minister of energy and a CEO of an important nuclear reactor manufacturer. The meeting was supposed to be for the benefit of the minister on information of what is forthcoming in the future, particularly in small reactors and the possibility of establishing a European affiliate of the company in Lithuania.

The minister graciously extended an invitation to the CEO, but the minister's secretariat refused to extend even the slightest courtesy to this visit, such as picking up the visitor from the airport and transporting him to the meeting, setting up a meeting agenda, or even providing to the visitor's office the address of the ministry. They claimed that this was just another sales visit, and the visitor should take care of everything on his own. As a result the CEO canceled the meeting and eventually went to London. The European affiliate was established in the UK. Thus through such arrogance another opportunity was lost.

There is a lot truth in the German proverb "Dummheit und Stolz wachsen auf einem Holz".

Best regards,
Stan Backaitis
Washington, USA