Aside from that, the Romanian government, prodded by intense international pressure and
scrutiny, decided it was going one step further. It decided to create road blocks where it would spray all incoming and outgoing traffic with a 360-degree antiviral sprayer. Which, in theory, perhaps it made some sense to the stuffy bureaucrats in Bucharest. In practice, however, it didn't quite materialize as planned, nor was it particularly effective. The only thing it did for us, however, was cause a great deal of frustration and annoyance. We encountered the filters on our way to Brasov. About 40-50 miles outside the city they were posted--one in the going lane, and the other in the oncoming lane, but about 500 yards away.
We went through the first spray filter simply because we were motioned through. We did not activate the sprayer since it was weight activated. The experience was unsettling, nonetheless, especially because the road through the filter was lined with a regular carpet that, soaked with the soapy water they were using, was extremely slippery, and almost caused a bike drop. The second filter we slowly made our way through, once again unsprayed. By the nuclear-looking suits of the attendants, I thought, this must be some serious stuff they're handling over here.At the third filter, we had the misfortune of being behind a car which drove on the pressure plates that activated the spray mechanism, but then gunned the vehicle and rode through untouched by the miserable concoction. We, on the other hand, got drenched with it, while the workers were screaming all kinds of things, most of which resembled a bunch of "No, no, no, no!!!" On top of that, I had to balance the bike on the slippery carpet meant to rub the tires for another 30-40 yards with this stuff. This absolutely sent me over the edge!
And to add insult to injury, at the next filter, as we approached, one of the workers walked into the road to motion us into the other lane--motorcycles should go around the filters, he said! Aahhh..... so I should have been notified all along that I need to go around, but at the other filters the workers reckoned, "Why bother? Let the fool go through."
Consequently, for the rest of the day, we drove around every single spray filter. Yet, I still could not get over getting sprayed, completely unneccessarily. Which of course, brought the question--what purpose were those filters fulfilling?
Discussing the matter later with several Romanians, it turned out that some of the solutions used at the filters had been independently tested by third-party organizations, and were found to be no more than weak, soapy, water, with some trace of anti-viral solution. Furthermore, the sprayers were only spraying the outside of vehicles and trucks. Which meant that if you had a trunk-load of dead chicken, you simply drove through and went on your merry way. And sure enough, a week after our trip, they discovered a whole batch of suspect, infected chicken which had been distributed to groceries. Romanians in general, were taking a rather laid-back-but-amuzed attitude, blaming the whole thing on the European Union. They were saying that since Romania is due to join the EU next January, the Union was trying to drive the independent producers out of the market, to better sell other members' chicken in Romania. With a sad tinge in their voice, they were saying--"Welcome to the centrally-planned economy that the communists couldn't pull off, but which the European Union is forcing down our throats!!!"
So, for all intents and purposes, the Romanian government had taken action. Poultry had been killed and vehicles were being sprayed. Say Hello to Bruxelles and Vote for us in the next election! - BGR
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