 |
| Copenhagen cafe society |
| Courtesy Wonderful Copenhagen |
Lone Fons Schroder of CMC Biopharmaceuticals tells
the following story. When she worked for Maersk
Airlines, she had done a good deed for an injured
man in Greenland, transporting him to a Danish hospital.
This caused a member of the Danish civil aviation
board to have to go in on the weekend to get a special
permit, and the bureaucrat wasn’t happy about
it. She did it, however, and Lone sent two bottles
of wine to thank her. They were immediately sent
back, with an outraged note: “Do you think
you can bribe me?”
Danes are most often described as reserved and
orderly, which is perfectly true. They are also
reliable, honest and absolute straight-shooters.
Building contractors are expected to keep to their
estimates, and they do. The Danes themselves seem
to feel that they are chilly; but they are friendlier
than they think. Questions are answered with smiles,
rather than suspicion.
A journalist in Jutland once said that the squabbling
Danes are more like Donald Duck than Mickey Mouse.
They have also been described as a “cheerful
people with a developed sense of humor.” This
writer found them to be kind, helpful, quick to
smile, and the kind of people that always opt for
the best interpretation of any encounter. Denmark
is not a place for blood feuds and wars. The Danes
are among the few that send in troops to try and
stop them.
Actually, the reason Danes don’t start wars
is their unerring gift for losing them, and their
ability to learn from it. In the words of Klaus
Rifbjerg, “We have lost every war we’ve
fought since the year dot.” Bjarne Reuter,
who writes childrens stories and mysteries, thinks
it has instilled “a lack of pride.” But
to an outsider, it just seems that they have more
sensible things to think about. Other European states
are still smoldering about lost battles in the 15th
century. To Danes, warfare and martial glory are
nowhere near as important as having a nice life
after all that noisy fighting is over.
They are a reserved and private people. Bjarne
Reuter says that you can talk to them quite easily,
but at some point you’ll reach a closed door,
and it takes years to get past it. When this writer,
interviewing a high-ranking minister, posed the
boilerplate question, “Which part of your job
gives you the biggest headache?”, he was politely
asked to stop asking personal questions.
There are two Danish words that are vital to understanding
the Danish character. Jante lov (Yenta) is the most
important. The concept was developed by Aksel Sandemose,
a writer and philosopher who lived most of his life
in Norway. It’s rooted in a Biblical parable,
and it means, roughly, that no Dane should try to
exalt himself. Trying to rise too high above the
rest of your fellows is every bit as rude as cutting
someone off in traffic. They consider it far better
to be a functioning member of a well-balanced society,
and work toward the collective good.
This concept is making some of the younger, entrepreneurial
Danes tear their hair out, and the president of
Football Club Copenhagen has even started an “anti-Jante”
movement. But it’s more of a description of
existing philosophies than an original idea, and
the roots go deep here. Even royalty takes it seriously;
a blue-blooded count explained that any display
of lordly haughtiness would cost him the respect
of his neighbors.
The second word is Hyggelig (Hyuglee). This means,
roughly, “cozy and convivial,” and it’s
a condition that most humans aspire to. The Danes,
however, reach it. Mixing their tradition of design,
order, a talent for getting the best out of small
resources, and innate good taste, they can take
blonde wood, candles and camaraderie and make almost
any place welcoming, warm and delightful to cuddle
up in. This came, of course, from the long winter
nights.
Mariano Davies, a Welshman who has worked in Denmark
for decades, complimented the Danes on their ability
to “combine the work ethic with a balanced
family ethic.” It works because when the Danes
are on the job, they’re really doing it. They
concentrate fiercely on what their tasks and they
don’t fool around. Their national productivity
is one of the highest in Europe. One television
executive described Danish life as “the tug
between workplace and fireplace.”
|
