Fucking Flinke Camryn

Som jeg tidligere har nævnt, får jeg mange reaktioner på Fucking Flink. Fra danskere. Fra danskere bosat i udlandet. Og så fra udlændinge, der er kommet her til landet.

I går fik jeg denne mail fra Camryn. Da jeg havde læst den, skrev jeg straks tilbage til hende for at høre, om jeg måtte dele den. For den påvirkede mig. Og jeg synes I skulle læse med.

Heldigvis er Camryn helt usædvanligt flink, så hun sagde ja. Her er Camryns email til mig:

Hej Lars,

I just read about your new book “Fucking Flink” at the CPH Post, and I want to thank you for your literary contribution. Though I’m not a high-level Danish reader, I plan to buy it.

I’m an American (California, born and raised), but I’ve spent the last 4 years in Denmark, for grad school, and now work. It’s been a constant struggle, coming to terms with the fact that ‘manners and basic kindness’ are very different in Denmark than what I’m used to. Don’t get me wrong, the Danes are lovely, intelligent, quality people with generous amounts of integrity...you just wouldn’t know that if you were to evaluate them by their ‘public behavior.” And then annually, when the ‘happiness award’ is given to Denmark, I’m exponentially perplexed!

In my experience, out on the street, I’ve noticed that most Danes don’t look at you — they look through you. As a chatty Californian, whose used to making friends all the time, in unexpected places, I’ve trained myself to keep my mouth shut and respect the privacy of the Danes. This is hard. My family told me on my last visit back to Sacramento that I don’t smile as much to people whom I don’t know well, and I’m more formal in the way I talk. I’m becoming more Danish. In some respects, this is good and a part of my integration. In other ways, losing one’s ‘public friendliness’ seems sad.

Anyways, 2 nights ago, I went into the 7-11 near Nørreport Station at 10pm. A friendly young guy – probably 16 or 17 years old — looked up at me as I went in and said “Hejsa, god aften!” He was so friendly. And when I purchased my milk, he made sure to look me in the eye and smile while saying “thank you...and have a good night.” It was so thoughtful, and yet I was unprepared for it. I considered it as I rode my bike home, how grateful I was to this young guy who went out of his way to be nice.

I sincerely hope that the store clerk’s general friendliness is rewarded now and later in life. Your book will hopefully help to make that happen. Thank you for writing it and starting a public dialogue!

Best to you,

Camryn

Jeg behøver vel ikke at sige det, men Camryn er naturligvis en person med stort overskud. Hun har tilbudt at hjælpe med 'the cause' på alle de måder hun kan. Hvor er det stort. Og hvor skal vi dog om samfund være opmærksomme på, at det er folk som Camryn, vi ikke kan få nok af. Det er folk som hende, vi for guds skyld ikke må skræmme væk.

Og der skal jo så lidt til. “Hejsa, god aften!”. Lad os alle huske at sige det, næste gang, vi ser Camryn...