Reykjavík Grapevine - 28.08.2010, Side 4

Enjoy covers the ambiance, food and location
of 32 restaurants in Reykjavík
Seafood, steakhouses, vegetarian, innovative
cuisine and more . . .
Enjoy
dining out
www.salka.is
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-Buy tourist merch that’s less obviously
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Yes, The Reykjavík Grapevine finally has a
T-shirt all of its own. Pick up a copy of this
sweet, limited edition item at Havarí on
Austurstræti or Dogma on Laugavegur – 101
Reykjavík. And do it now. For the children.
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Say your piece, voice your opinion,
send your letters to:
letters@grapevine.is
4
Letters
Sour grapes
and stuff
(Light)
MOST AWESOME LETTER
A buncha POLAR BEER for your thoughts
We're not gonna lie to you: we really love us some beers. Some folks would
call it a problem, but beer never gave us any problems. In fact, over the years,
it's solved most of 'em. A frosty glass of cold, frothy, bubblicious, golden-
tinted beer has consistently failed to let us down. In the immortal words of the
once-reputable Homer J. Simpson: "Mmm... Beer..."
Now, since we're real pleasant and giving folks here at the Grapevine, we
thought we'd share some wonderful POLAR BEER with you, our readers.
Not only that, you're also getting the gift of social life with it. So here's the
deal: our most awesome letter of each issue (henceforth, or until the good
people of POLAR BEER decide they don't want to play along anymore),
we will be providing our MOST AWESOME LETTER scribe with twelve frothy
POLAR BEERS, to be imbibed at a Reykjavík bar of their choice (so long as
that bar is either Bakkus or Venue). If y'all's letter is the one, drop us a line to
collect. Give us your worst: letters@grapevine.is
MOST AWESOME LETTER:
Dear Haukur,

I am glad this is solved in your mind at
least.
Another topic : On a trip back from
the US (June 22nd fromn NYC to KEF,
I was stranded in the US for two days
because of technical issues with the
plane...I got information from Europe
and local governmental agency in Ice-
land that technical issue is not a valid
reason for the airline to refuse to give
compensation for a two day delay (which
was the answer from Icelandair). I have
formally lodged a complaint with the
authorities and will go to the European
ones if need be to get compensation but
I think there could be an article written
on that subject that would be of interest
to your readers, Icelanders and foreign
nationals.
The amazing thing I learnt was that
not many people complain about delays
nowadays even though the legislation is
quite strong and strict to respect passen-
gers rights.
If you need I can share the full story
and email exchange with Icelandair.
Just for info, I am including a the great
email I received from their CEO (for
passengers) which I attach here : We
let our CS dept take care of it and I do
not interfere... even after I send a mes-
sage stating I am not taken care of by the
team, the CEO, does not care to answer
a customer complaint : Have we lost the
sense of service ? It seems Iceland Ex-
press has the same issue with the latest
cancelled f light from Standstead where
the company states that there is nothing
they should be blamed for...
We need your help to get more people
on those delayed planes to complain offi-
cially for the airlines to start to move and
come in line with the European regula-
tions.
Please find the communication from
Eu and contact information In Iceland at
the tail end of this email, very helpfull
indeed.
Regards,
Christophe
Dear Christophe,
Wow. Unlike our petty hotel complaint
below, we are actually pretty stunned by
this one, especially that you are taking it
so calmly! Thanks for being rational. But
seriously, TWO DAYS? That’s fucked up.
We would totally welcome you to look
into such things as passenger rights and
airline compensations for us. Our chief
editor (currently in the US himself!) re-
cently had some flight trouble and we
know he would have been real happy
to stick it to the man. Anyway, we’ve all
had to go through some rough shit at
airports, but you seem to have gotten
screwed pretty hard, so next time you are
in town, come by and get some free beers
on us. Santé!
Dear Sir/Madam,
How do you do? I am writing to submit a
source which you might be interested in in-
vestigating.
My name is Maoguo Wu. I made an official
complaint to Icelandair Hotel Loftleidir. So
far I have not received any reply. I guess if you
publish my complaint letter and people read
it, less people will suffer from the extremely
unpleasant experience as I did. Besides,
what's more important, less international
visitors will get disappointed in Iceland. I love
Iceland so much, and I am doing your country
a favour.
Besides, may I also suggest another topic
that is worth investigation and some special
consideration? The receptionist who I com-
plained about was Chinese. I wonder if it is
the case that Icelandair Hotel or Iceland the
whole country was so short of staff that they
resort to hiring immigrants who do not even
possess the most fundamental etiquette to do
some demanding jobs. A nation should pro-
tect its own labour market, namely allocate
jobs to local people first of all.
I look forward to receiving your most favour-
able reply!
Kind regards,
Maoguo Wu
P.S. Please find my complaint letter below
[Complaint letter is about 4000 words long,
melodramatically describes a series of simple
misunderstandings and harmless offenses
committed by a possibly new and/or over-
worked hotel employee.]
Dear Maoguo,
Your complaint letter was way too long to print
in our issue, but we wouldn’t have printed it
anyway because you were basically just whin-
ing over really petty bullshit that you took way
too personally. Receptionists aren’t ER doc-
tors or forest fire fighters, so you probably
shouldn’t expect so much of them.
As for your actual letter to us, we are pretty
appalled at the xenophobic and racist attitude
you expressed regarding the nationality of said
receptionist. We should mention that their
name in your complaint letter is an Icelandic
one, so regardless of their appearance, where
do you get off assuming you know where they
were born or what their citizenship is? Here at
the Grapevine, we’re happy to see people em-
ployed. Skin colour don’t matter.
If you really want to do our country a favour,
drop the racist judgments, lower your ex-
tremely high expectations of hard-working
hotel staff and read the fucking bus schedule
yourself.
Imagine our delight and surprise when we
read the July issue of the Grapevine, picked
up at the Information Centre. We particularly
like the articles on the economy and I see you
continue with exploring serious issues in the
August paper. Best tourist paper we have seen
and we have been around some. We loved the
light in Iceland and the Prime Minister's of-
fice without barriers and guards. Such a civi-
lized place other than the lack of explanations
all the confused tourists running around the
BSI wondering where to go next.
Have fun,
Eva Wetzel
Hey Eva!
Thanks so much for the love! The best tourist
paper you’ve seen, eh? Well pardon us while
we put on our proud-pants. Can you send us
an official certificate from yourself stating
this? We are thinking about starting a wall
of honours bestowed upon us by our readers.
LOVE Y’ALL.
I read about your new mayor's election. Like
many other things in his platform, the pro-
posal for toll booths at the boundary with
Seltjarnarnes, though superficially funny and
crazy, has a lot of sense to it as you dig deeper.
Would you be interested in an article on a re-
alistic plan for how the mayor could keep this
promise - at a profit to the city - and that would
provide Reykjavik with the best city road fund-
ing system in the world? This article could be
phrased as an open letter to the mayor, or in
whichever other format you suggest.
Kamal Hassan
Hey Kamal,
That is a great idea actually. You should totally
write this and get a discourse going with Mr.
Gnarr. Maybe some other politicians and writ-
ers can jump in on the discussion, like the
mayor of Seltjarnarnes perhaps, and then it
can all end in a massive Thunderdome cage
match out at Grótta. Make it happen.
Aprés le volcan d island les violents séismes
Haiti et Chilie ces inondations en Pakistan
violent feu de forét en Russie et tsunami so-
laire l application de coran et l islam a l échelle
planétaire ou l apocalypse aucun pays ne sera
épargner par les punitions de DIEU a part la
Mecque Medina en Arabie Saoudite Elqods
en Palestine et la montagne de Tamgout en
Grande Kabylie parceque je suis un vrai mu-
sulman croyant et un vrai kabyle de la Grande
Kabylie on a une dignité pour DIEU et l islam
et le coran l application de Coran ou l apoca-
lypse
OUR FRENCH-SPEAKING JOURNAL-
IST TRANSLATES THIS FUCKING GUY
AGAIN:
After the volcano in Iceland the violent earth-
quates Haiti and Chilie these floods in Paki-
stan violent forest fires in Russia and solar
tsunamis the application of the Koran and of
islam on the global scale or else the apoca-
lypse no country will be saved from the wrath
of GOD except the Mecca Medina in Saudi
Arabia Elqods in Palestine and the Tamgout
mountain in Grand Kabylie because I am a
real devout muslim and a real kabyle from
Grand Kabylie we have respect for GOD and
islam and the Koran apply the Koran or else
the apocalypse.
We were gonna give you the free beer so you
would chill the fuck down, but apparently the
apocalypse is coming so we’ll just be over here
with our beer bong until it starts raining piss
and shit all over us. That’s what happens right?