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Friday, September 25, 2009

No Girlfriend! No Problem!

In Baku, there are times when you get just about everything you want. Last week I easily found a jar of tahini paste I needed to make some hummus. No problem. But then over the weekend I went to pick up bananas and I could not find a single banana in the entire city of Baku. They had just vanished.

My theory is that because so much of the import-export business here is monopolized, if one guy makes a change in his business practice (or the banana supply guy is running low) you immediately have a city-wide shortage.

This theory may also explain how people dress in Baku. This summer there has been a rash of English-language tee-shirts that are absolutely inexplicable yet incredibly popular. Apparently, whoever owns the tee-shirt monopoly has a penchant for funky English.

My favorite is the "No Girlfriend! No Problem!" tee-shirt. Men across Baku are sporting this shirt. A few weeks ago my friends and I tried to divine exactly what the phrase means. It could mean, "hey ladies, I don't have a girlfriend so it's no problem if we get together." Or, perhaps, an announcement to the world that without a girlfriend I have no problems (and thus a grammatical error leaving off the "s" at the end of problem?).

This morning on the way to work I saw a new one:

Money!
Love!
Girlfriend!
Job!
Problem!

If anyone can help me interpret the meaning of this shirt -- or the No Girlfriend! No Problem! variation - I'd be forever grateful. And what's up with all the exclamation points?

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