Skopje is definitely a city where everyone does what they want, most of the time without being punished or it comes as a warning and waving a finger like a mother scolding her child - you are not smart, don't let this happen to you again! And he, the stupid one, especially when he is ashamed of his actions, repeats his act until the institutions "forget" him and until the media take up another interesting topic.

That is why living in the city is chaotic, disorganized, without order and discipline. And for that, not only the institutions are to blame (although they are still at the top of the list), but also the citizens, for whom avoiding the rules and regulations is a way of life. Thus, it is not surprising that garbage "springs up" from all sides, that vehicles are parked in lawns, that cars rush through City Park, that music blares from cafes at night and leaves the neighborhood sleepless, that bikers thunder along the boulevards , and loose teenagers destroy children's playgrounds. Nothing is strange, really, when home education is one step from the bottom and when there is no one in the state and in the city to press the brakes and start seriously enforcing the laws, and hit with punishments on all grounds.

The most recent example of functioning according to the principle "I really care about both regulations and laws" is the behavior of the bar owners on the "13 Noemvri" Quay. Several of these catering facilities have taken out tables and chairs in front of their huge glazed summer terraces and for days they serve guests here, because people are running out of space that the authorities have allowed them to use. And after the media pointed out the problem, the investigators scattered. Therefore, they controlled, imposed punishments and so on. And what? The tables continue to usurp public space, they have "stretched" to the first row of benches on the promenade, placed here exactly for those citizens who want to sit on the quay without entering the restaurants. Now if you sit on one of these benches, you will have the feeling that you have joined someone for dinner uninvited.

The fact that both the Municipality of Centar and the City of Skopje and all legal provisions are powerless to prevent the arbitrariness of a handful of caterers is overwhelming. The sparse information is also surprising, in which it is not precisely stated who was punished, nor how much, and it is even more unclear why they were not ordered to immediately remove the tables. Or they, with the help of the police, remove them immediately to show that there is no "messing" with the institutions and that the rules apply to everyone equally. In this way, as with many other things, they will struggle all summer long until the summer season is over.

Until three years ago, it was not possible to cross the quay from the summer terraces of the several catering facilities that have existed in this space for years. The former mayor Petre Shilegov decided and succeeded in bringing order, arranged the quay and freed it for citizens to walk, and the summer terraces gathered in front of their facilities, organized and unified. In return they were allowed to expand an additional 3,5 meters.

In 2018, the City adopted a new Decision for determining the need for the installation of urban equipment, which also determines the conditions, method and procedure for issuing approval for the installation of urban equipment and approval for performing activities outside of business premises in Skopje. In it, it was allowed to close the summer terraces with assembly-disassembly transparent panels, for which an additional utility fee is calculated, in addition to the regular one for the installed urban equipment (with approval, of course), of 15 denars per square meter per day without VAT for a period of 1 November to 31 March in the current year. So all the establishments on the quay, except Casa Cubana, took advantage of this and the summer terraces became smoking rooms when it was cold outside. Now, apparently even that is not enough, so they also need a completely open space, in the air, under the shade of the trees on the quay. But no decision provides for obtaining approval for the installation of urban equipment outside the existing summer terrace, and this has been happening for days in front of all institutions. On the square, for example, a catering establishment has already placed tables and chairs outside the glazed summer terrace for months, allegedly with permission from the City of Skopje. According to which law and which rule, apparently only they know.

Whether the mayor Danela Arsovska will dare to follow in the footsteps of Shilegov and oppose the caterers, and will bring order to the quay as befits, is completely uncertain. Or the City and the Municipality of Centar will continue to "wash" themselves with announcements that they are doing something, but nothing is visible on the ground.