Every single day I walk past or sit next to many people I know by sight, but I never acknowledge them, let alone greet them. I behave as though they do not even exist. As though they are invisible or transparent, in fact. Well, that is Zagreb for you. And it took me only a couple of years to learn the trick. The learning was painful, too. The haughty disdain of those to whom I was not properly introduced was hard to miss. They were tough teachers, but I was a quick student. After all, I was born in this city, in which familiar strangers are kept at respectable distance for as long as possible. With luck, an entire life.