A birdy flew by today, dropping its usual stamp and an unusual idea. So before my mind got overwhelmed, I went to a caffé the physical size of my idea. This is a typical Croatian bar: a cheap solution to have guests read their newspaper, have a cup of coffee or a pint of lager, pay and leave. But I needed to be there to visualise what it meant to substitute "cheap" with "functional" and "IKEA" with "elegance".
"It could work" - I thought. And then I started up a discussion. Imagine getting legless whilst listening to Haydn, Bach or Mendelssohn. You could save monies on giving up on most booze, and keeping only good beer; moreover, you could use the saved monies to enrich your beer offer. There is so much more to beer than a simple lager: ale, stout, porter and many more.
I was interrupted at that stage, being told that it would most definitely not work out. The main arguments to this were: (1) that Croats who preferred bars would hate to have to listen to classical music, (2) that Zagreb's local lager is the only winner ever, meaning that the rest would stay in the storage collecting dust, (3) that I couldn't limit people to listen to classical music only and at all times etc.
Thus I confirmed this, but also advised that Zagreb was a city (town?) of nearly a million people and there would be enough clients to get this going.
This was denied, so I went for a private club. Again, the idea was denied using the same arguments with the addition of the fact that not many Croats would pay (a yearly) membership to get drunk and listen to an opera.
And yes, I am glad my idea was rejected. My whole life I have been looking at different stores, clubs, cultural institutions, hotels, restaurants etc., opening and closing in a blink of an eye. A terrible way to get reminded that no one inside a country wants something different, that no one supports culture, that no one actually cheers you to try to do something.
Ultimately, I will keep on looking to get out of Croatia to get myself going. In the meantime, give us a half an ale a put the 9th Symphony on, will you?
