Then and Now

I had not been back to Israel since 1988 and much has changed.
For one, the country got much more sophisticated. I blame the Internet or Israelis travelling abroad and realizing that nice service with a smile is better than surly waiters throwing falafel platters at you. And that not all the food has to be schnitzel and Turkish salad. Hence, this has become a great place to eat, with very good food and so far, gracious, warm service in very good looking restaurants -- absolutely unimaginable in my day.
Excellent new roads, communications that work like a charm. Very good.
Turning almost every archaeological site into a mall, not so good.
What hasn't changed is the screaming between people, in which I have been forced to participate (to my enormous glee) pretty much everyday. Not all the screaming is intended to inform you  that you are a moron. Or to ask you with that dripping aggressive sarcasm that borders on genius if you are not yet aware that you are a moron. All of it is intended to assure you that you are a moron when you are driving, even if you are Emerson Fittipaldi. Some of it is to tell you not to be a moron as there's no need to pay for parking today, and good deeds like that. People here just butt in, as always. 

A perfect example: I ask the lady guard at our hotel in Haifa if there is a pharmacy nearby. She tells me yes and where it is. I ask whether it is within walking distance. She gives me a once over and then pronounces:
The weather is beautiful and you are wearing good shoes, so why not walk?