The gas station out on the highway close to the village has three people working inside, and two pumping gas, two days on, two off. Another gas station we stop at of the same brand has two inside and one pumping gas. The reason why? Each station gets the same amount of salary each month, but the one here pays 1200 grivna and month per worker, spreading the same money over more families (most have other income- two guys are the carpenters who did the drywall in the house we live in. An interesting fact- gas stations here are open 24 hours, but they close for inventory for a half hour twice and day, usually at 8:30- 9 am and again at 15 minutes before midnight. But sometimes they won’t sell you gas – the cash register is not working, they are getting a delivery, Garry has left the one with less workers four times in the last month without getting any gas. This morning Garry forgot to stop for gas in Nova Swit as we were going in to church, with the car full of milk, so he drove on toward Bratskiyea with a muttered I hope we don’t run out. Luckily we were at the top of the hill heading toward the station at the bottom of the hill on the edge of the town, and we coasted up to the pump, which was working!
Last week Garry got a delivery of feed (ground grain with added salt) for the cows. The normal procedure would be for him to drive over to the mill, and pay for it in cash the day before. Since we have done business with them a few times, and it takes more than an hour to get there and back, Garry decided we could do it an easier way- pay on delivery. The problem was- the driver was mad about it- he said his job was to drive the truck not be a manager and handle money. He called the office secretary, who told him he had to take the pile of grivina back to the office. He told Garry and Maxim that he had not been paid in two months so he should not have to do more than his job, which is the drive the truck. Maxim told him that he should put it in his pocket and then he’d be paid.
Maxim told Garry once that when he quit his job to come to work here, it was not the first time he quit. Every time they would promise him more money, pay him that amount the first month, and few months later, he’d get a third of the amount again. Most of the agricultural workers in the area are paid about 3000 grivna a month during the summer months, but during the winter they get 1000, which is not enough for a family to pay utilities and buy food. Which is one reason why Garry has been buying so many heifers- money gets short by February in a lot of homes. This morning just as we were backing out of the driveway, Garry saw a car at the other gate- and said- my calf must be here- so he drove back in to get the money and get Maxim the help the guys. It turned out the guy with the month old calf had changed his mind about selling it, but his friend had a ten day old heifer calf that he wanted to sell, so they had to agree on a new price before we left (now that I think about it the car was running all this time- we wouldn't have had to coast maybe.)
Interestingly, three of the four guys who quit working for us last spring when they wanted more money for helping pour cement, have become Garry’s friends in the village and he stops by their yards to talk and see how things are going (they are all small village farmers.) In fact two of the guys went back to work for us in August, when they dug the well for the barn. One day this week, Garry and Maxim had stopped by one guy’s yard, when he started yelling at a man carrying a bucket of compicorn (grain) down the street. Garry couldn’t quite figure out what was going on, so Max explained that it was the man’s uncle who was going to trade it for vodka to our babushka neighbour (she distills her own), and he was yelling that if he was going to drink away his grain- he would not get any from him when he ran out of grain for his pigs. Alcoholism is a big problem in Ukraine, and in our village. It is one of the reasons why men in Ukraine have a lower life expectation than other countries. When it was really cold last month a drunken man about 40 years old froze to death, outside- he didn’t make it home one night.
It was eight degrees above (50ish F) when we drove home this afternoon, I took some photos of people heading to the football stadium for the big game- Dnepro was playing Dyanmo Kiev. Many people were wearing the blue and white club scarves as they walked up to the stadium, lots of fans waiting outside the gates, music playing over the stadium speakers and vendors selling from booths or just sitting along the street. This is the first game I've seen advertised on the billboards this year and it turned out to be a great day for the most popular sport in Ukraine.
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