A modern story about Stephanie, the dwarves and Hansel

A modern story about Stephanie, the seven dwarves and Hansel

Buy Croatian from small Croatian businesses and craftsmen

Dear leasers of flats, commercial space, offices and other forms of square metres. It's now your turn. The working class is not able, and objectively does not have the financial possibility of renting a 3-room flat in Zagreb from 800 or 1000 euro. They are not able to rent office space for 1500 or warehouse space for 15,000 euro. If the last small businessman in Croatia dies off, then who will this space be rented to? Small businesses and crafts are slowly becoming extinct in Croatia, disappearing like the Krapina Neanderthal man. Slowly, but surely. They themselves are aware just how many small shops, craftsmen and companies throughout Croatia are closing their small business doors and sinking like the Titanic under the burden of taxes, for the state does not write off debts for the likes of them. Under the ruins of the first, second and third layers of the pension system, they are in debt to their ears.

The small business owner, who in the start consents to registering under that name, is aware that he will not see much growth. At least not in Croatia. He is like a baby without a thyroid gland. Once a dwarf, always a dwarf. He does not grow rapidly, better put, he does not grow at all until his business death. He is one of the greatest fighters for life and survival. He fights like a lion, to the final drop of sweat and the final kuna, but in the end, he gives up, and with a scream, the wounded, over-indebted beast falls to the ground. Financially dead and physically exhausted. At times it seems as though the craftsmen and small businesses are the most courageous group. In the very beginning, their chances for survival are minimal, for they are threatened by the big companies who drive goods to their large shopping centres in semi-trailers, employ a few hundred people and have great profits.

You must certainly be wondering why it should be that it is more difficult for the small business than for the large one, for logically speaking, the large company feeds several hundred families, while the small business feeds only ten neighbours and a little family.

That logic would make sense, if our country did not function on connections and favours made by the family of their employees, and when there wouldn't be the inclination to write off the debts of big business at the expense of little businesses. A large number of employees is certainly a big advantage to big business. Nowhere in the job requirements does it list good familial connections, even though in the end, that is very important. Nor can the influence or personal power of big business be ignored. The power-holders bow down to them. They visit parties, where they either intentionally or unintentionally make new connections and new deals. Usually big, profitable deals. Big deals go hand in hand with big cars, as it would not be right to drive a new expensive car to sign a deal worth only 1000 euro. That amount is enough only for dinner, champagne and petrol for the big businessman. It would be silly for a powerful politician to come to dinner on the small ordinary fishing boat. Why? Because the small fishing boat does not have a table under which the well known politician can sleep if he decides to stay a few days. The small fishing boat rocks on the waves like a walnut shell, and the politician could get seasick. For many reasons, the wealthy prefer dining on the yachts of big businessmen. No one has anything against big business, but let the small businesses live, as big businesses are not potential tenants for your flats, commercial and office space and warehouses, for they have their own villas and flats, their own office space, their own halls and large warehouses. If we think about it a little, perhaps there is a cure for the dying craftsmen and small businesses. Buy Croatian from small business and craftsmen. To start, buy your food in small neighbourhood shops, buy in their small family workshops, and you've already done half the work. The other half will return to you like a boomerang, as they will then be able to pay the rent on the flats, commercial space and office space you rent out.

Everything will be much easier and nicer. Only then could the Croatian business story have a happy ending and both the tenants and property owners would live happily ever after. Furthermore, not even the story of Snow White ends with Snow White marrying a dwarf. The prince steps in. In the modern Croatian version, the story would look something like this: Stephanie, the seven dwarves and Hansel

The daughter of a small businessman, who also grew to become a small businesswoman, was so beautiful that her stepmother could not tolerate her beauty, and so she ordered the tax administration to swamp her with taxes. The tax administration went after the poor little beauty, armed with new calculations of contributions and other claims, but at the last minute, they took pity on her and decided to allow the beautiful girl to pay her dues to the state in a thousand instalments, under the condition that she go far, far away and never return.

The poor beauty headed off to the employment office of another town, and found a job working illegally for the seven dwarves. There she lived humbly, and it was sad to see her like that. The evil stepmother began to suspect that her orders were not carried out, and she went to check at the tax administration. Staring into the monitor, she asked in an icy voice, "Monitor, monitor on the desk, where does the little tax debtor rest? Is she still alive? Reset and show me her earnings!" When the monitor displayed the earnings of the poor little beauty, the evil stepmother decided to disguise herself as Glumina Bank, and to take away all her new earnings.

The evil stepmother was thrilled with her new evil idea. She was completely certain that her new plan, with promised high interest rates, was a perfect way to steal her earnings, and that the beauty would certainly invest her humble savings and would end up with nothing in the end. At the last minute, Stephanie the beauty decided not to invest, as she did not receive her pay. The stepmother was furious and had to think of a new trap.

"I have a great idea", said the stepmother. "Financial engineering will take bags and bags of money! That will certainly work. The money of little Stephanie will come into the state coffers. If this does not work, I'll go mad with fury, for I am still the most beautiful, even if I am no longer young." And that was her plan.

A year past, there was no help from the employment office and poor Stephanie was in for a lot of trouble. The dwarves were already at the end of their wits, for the mines were full of gold, but when they brought it out, it turned into big balls of mud. The dwarves warned her, "Beauty, do not trust anyone, for we stopped growing out of trust, and have always remained little". But our little businesswoman was naive, and at about 3 p.m., she opened the door for the postman.

The postman handed her a letter, which read that she must immediately appear before the tax administration. This news was like a stone on her chest. The beauty fell to the floor, as she no longer had any hope. They laid her on the floor, as she showed no signs of life, and our heroine lay dead and smiled no more.

And then, the handsome Hansel, son of a wealthy businessman, was passing by. He let out a sigh when he saw her beauty. He decided to stop his expensive vehicle and he gave our Stephanie a Hollywood kiss. That is true love, to love someone while they sleep. And in the end, as the people say, our Stephanie awoke from her deep sleep. Through a friend of her husband, her overall debt was reduced to zero. Stephanie no longer had any trouble with taxes, as her Hansel quietly took care of it all. The entire forest was happy, as Stephanie never paid a dime. And so they lived happily ever after. And what about the dwarves? Here is where the story ends, for in this country of ours, who gives a damn. They continued to work as hard as ever, and houses made of chocolate are perhaps for another story

Buy Croatian from our small businesses and craftsmen and save the dwarves!

 

Autor: Mirjana Mikulić