I would like to start this post by sharing this story of mine, its not long, but please bear with me, I promise I am trying to make a point…
True Story..! Here it goes…
The phone rings, so I take a glance at the number and pause for a while to try to guess who this is until I reached the conclusion that i do not know this number and I could just pick up before the caller decides to hang up. “Alo,” I say…I then was answered by this noise that indicated that the caller is either standing against a breeze or blowing into the mic. for some reason..a deep voice, creepily, then whispers something that I could not interpret, so I ask, “huh?” ..he repeats with a clearer voice but still leaves me uncertain at what he’s saying-only this time because I was in disbelief-…”teshrabi shay?”-which translates into “would you like some tea?”.
I had quite a confused reaction at first. Was this his idea of “mo3aksa”-which literally translates to ‘flirtation’, except in this country it has been known to define sexual harassment-or is this someone who knows me and is trying to pull some prank? …It took me 20 seconds to snap out of my thoughts and come to the decision that I will not hang up, but rather leave the line open, let go of the phone from my hand, and look for something better to waste my time on.
Half an hour later, I needed to make an important phone call but I couldn’t because, to my astonishment, I realized that this guy was still there blabbing his brains out, not even noticing that no one was there for a whole half-hour.
5 seconds then it struck him, “Alo…” ..”Alo..”…”ALO!” he repeates..then hangs up the line. “FINALLY HE HAS GIVEN UP!” ..one would think..right?
To the dismay of any normal human-being’s logic and rationale…The number kept calling over and over and OVER and OVER..why is he so determined and insisting that I would “ashrab shay” with him..if that’s really what he wanted?!..or why would he think that whoever he’s going to call would be willing to drive his boredom away?! ..Anyway, I just turned my phone off, and left it there for a long while..
Im sorry if this was too long, but I really need you to see the whole picture with me. A guy, who sounded quite old, amidst all that our country is going through, decides to dial a random number. First, if this really was a “mo3aksa”, then may God have mercy on all of us, they are even failing miserably at the only thing they knew how to do ! It is not possible that he has this massive amount of time on his hands, because even people who did before the revolution, are now too busy thinking of how they will get their next meal, since no one literally ”la2i yakol”-that is an Egyptian, slang proverb which translates into “find what could be eaten”-so he cant be just some guy with nothing better to do on a Friday morning. And I doubt that he really was asking me to join him for tea either…!
“Ham yda7ak w ham ybaki..” since I am giving this post the “Egyptian flavor” with all the phrases and sayings, I thought this proverb would be most suitable to describe this-”Troubling matters: those that makes us laugh, and those that makes us cry” is what it means.
In contrast to this story, is another of a country: with no president, with no government, with an under-informed mass of people who are only becoming a heavier load on its shoulders, with economic, social, and political menace everyone is stuck with, and with a hazy idea of what might be hitting us next.
I myself failed to understand how there are people within the boundaries of this nation, who could not care less, and who would rather pick up their phones and dial random numbers, than think of a way out into a better, cleaner start for all of us. What ever happened to the spirit of the revolution? …I do not want to make this sound too dramatic, but i cant find any other way to articulate how i feel about all this: why does it feel like the revolution just died out?
And it was thought that this revolution came our way like a quiet storm of magic dust that will..poof!..blow all our pain and miseries away..It seems like it was only about the dust, but no magic…
Attending to all the chaos and trying to keep up with this series of incidents in the past weeks, that seems as though is unraveling before us with a speed of a distant free fall of which the grounds below are quite obscure, has had an effect that is as much bewildered as its stimulation.
Doubt, excitement, pride, frustration, and happiness, are all feelings being fabricated within the orbit of one another. Putting on an earphone to distract all those sounds only gives a rhythm to the chaos but fails to hide it, because it turns out that the chaos is not in all the sounds of people all talking at the same time…all trying to capture the occurrences in a frame designed with what they see fit for our future. All trying to foresee; what next.
You would fail to make it stop if u tried, because it seems that the chaos is coming from the inside of each one of us.
We have brought our nation down to ruins only to build it back up. The way i see it, is we should start with the building before we get too lazy to get up and derive any change from reality. I still have faith in the people of this country, but after we had cut out all its rotten limbs off, we want to see at least hints of new ones growing in their place ..
We all want a place to live where at least the basic human needs-food, shelter, etc..-are satisfied, we all want a place to live where what comes next is not unexpected and left to the fates, we all want a place to live in where we would know that we do not have to leave for a real opportunity of a life with dignity. All those are given…Next? ..
Side Note* ~ If you are feeling as bored as sad-creepy-phone-guy don’t hesitate to email me for his number.
Character of the Post: Sad-Creepy-Phone-Guy.
Random Notion of the Post: “Facebook statuses about that earthquake..seriously?”
