Getting Used to "It"

Tel Aviv: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

So far, and with only a few exceptions, the Israelis are living up to the reputation for outward toughness and artfully hidden warmth. Their abrasive behavior is deceptive; ask for directions, look desperate, or be ill in public, and the true nature of the Israelis bubbles to the surface.

Tel Aviv is as I remember: noisy, vibrant, untidy, and unbeautiful. Outdoor cafés abound and the food is respectable to first-rate.

The city is dirty, not New-York-City dirty, but unfinished and incomplete. It's a city of entrepreneurs unconcerned with anesthetics. The signage, storefronts, and Café furniture are all "make do."

The buildings appear on the brink of demolition or decay, although the construction of modern, high-rise buildings is on the increase. Landlords do nothing in the way of maintenance or safety until there is no place to hide from their tenants—who seemed not minding living and working in unacceptable conditions.

In a country renowned for its artists and architects, it's puzzling why Tel Aviv looks as it does. Even Israeli Web pages are artless and clunky. Perhaps it's that most cultures aren't too concerned about aesthetics until they're no longer obsessed with their security, and Israel is indeed in a bad neighborhood.

Customer service and satisfaction are unimportant, something that rankles North Americans. "Good enough" is a working concept. "Doing your best" is an unknown to most.

Yet, Tel Aviv's citizens are surprisingly cosmopolitan and more accepting of racial, sexual, and ethnic differences than most Americans. Its annoyingly self-confident citizens, dressed in carefully thought out tasteless clothing, come from nearly everywhere on Earth, and although proud of their origins, are anxious to be Israeli, which in its self-described classless society is futile; the native-born Sabra are at the top of the social pyramid, having come to Plymouth on the Mayflower.

I don't want to give the impression that Tel Aviv and her natives aren't engaging and friendly. The men and women are physically beautiful and carry themselves with dignity. Once their hard shell is penetrated by a smile and direct eye contact, humor and conversation spill out as if they've been waiting for days to chat with you. Their outer toughness is not a symptom of the concern for survival, but, as one young woman put it, a sign of "getting used to it." "It" was left undefined.