As Mussolini made Italy's trains run on time, Belgrade's mayor has made public transit reliable and trash collection punctual. An exodus of Belgraders to safer places has improved life for those who stayed behind. You can get a seat on the bus. The crime rate has dropped because even minor offenses are tried under martial law. Fear aside, it's not such a bad deal.
Gas is rationed.
But the up-side is that traffic jams have disappeared. The war has forced strangers together in bomb shelters, and there's nothing like the threat of dying to animate conversation. Some shelters have organized cooking and baby-sitting shifts. At others, poker is the main pastime. And the terror isn't that terrible yet.