Do you want to lose your self-respect or dignity? Just visit the Greek Consulate in London.

Date of event described here: July 6th, 2011, 11amAddress of event:Greek Embassy and Consulate in London1A Holland ParkLondon W11 3TP020 7313 5609 (do not bother calling, nobody picks up the phone or returns messages) Do you want to lose your self-respect or dignity? Just visit the Greek Consulate in London, it does not matter if you are Greek, Russian or Chinese, the treatment is the same…I was born in Greece and at a very young age, I emigrated to the United States where I was educated and worked for large multinational companies for several years.  In 2002 I completed my post-graduate studies in Law at the University of Manchester (United Kingdom) and since then, I decided to stay and work in England. After 30 years in the USA, I welcomed  the opportunity to live and to travel around Europe and if times turned around, I was considering one day of returning to Greece and possibly enjoying the last years of my life there.You see, here is a big and basic problem with us Greeks that left Greece young and lived out of the country for many years.   We forget how terribly difficult life was in Greece, not because of the pervasive poverty (which is still rampant)  but of having to deal on a daily basis with the Greeks, a very difficult, highly opinionated, vastly uneducated (for people over 50) and most importantly  a people that a sign of respect towards others  (especially foreigners) is a sign of weakness and stupidity.We tend to think of Greece as a romantic and easy-going  country with  the most beautiful blue skies, Santorini, ouzo, naps every day in the middle of the day and we forget that once we return there, all these goodies soon disappear because the ugly reality of having to deal with Greeks, on a daily basis, now pops up its ugly head.This unfortunate reality became obvious to me when I had to go through the horrible experience of applying for my Greek passport give years ago (2006)  through the Greek Consulate in London. It will suffice to say that the image of the blue Santorini skies and breathtaking sunsets soon disappeared and that after a painful 9-month process, mainly due to the incompetence and indifference of the Greek stuff at the Consulate, l was finally able to get my first Greek passport (after the first one issued in 1977). After going back to the Consulate to pick it up, I had promised myself never, ever, ever, to see these people again. Deep down, however, I knew I would have to go back in 5 years time since in 2011 this new passport was due to expire.This time however, I was not going to allow the Greeks to push me around. Knowing that my passport was due to expire in August of 2011, I called the Greek consulate in London (in the beginning  of February and well in advance) and after several attempts, managed to speak to a lady  who took my name and phone number and promised to call me back with the date of my appointment.A month later (sometime in March of 2011) I came home and found a  voicemail on my land-line giving