On my way back from the Tashkent International Airport the taxi driver got pissed at the roads being temporarily closed due to the tram lines removal.

- It’s so stupid when they close the road and do nothing!
- What you mean?
- They closed this road few weeks ago and never really worked hard to get the lines removed and road fixed afterwards! They will probably wait till Independence Day and will impose it as a “fresh” project so that President would praise their hardworking! Of course, everything is for the X-day (Independence Day)!

And then he told me a funny story about Uzbek construction companies:

When Americans planned to construct a large building in the United States they approached Germans to find out how much time they would need to realize the project.

“Three to five years,” was a respond.

Then they approached Russians:

“Two to three years,” they said. “But you should talk to Uzbeks, they’ve got a really good technology, and you might be interested in it.”

When they approached Uzbeks, our countrymen’s first question was:

“When is your Independence day?”

Indeed, all main construction projects in Uzbekistan are due “the main holiday of happiness and glory,” Independence Day celebrated every year on September 1. Once companies finish their construction works by that day they can proudly announce it as a victory of Uzbeks who can now enjoy “construction freedoms” one could never had during Soviet times. Ridiculous, no?