Epiphany...

I just got my driving lisence today (yes, I passed!) =D and I think that the few hours I spent there taught me some ver yvaluable lessons.

First and foremost, I've realized that the Egyptian public does not and will never actually grasp the concept of a simple, organized line. To get a simple form from the booth, I was squeezed between one man's testicles and another man's behind for almost ten minutes. The smell of sweat literally filled the air, and I had to cover my nose in order not to vomit on the man's head. People were shoving, kicking, swearing, cursing, shouting trying their best to get to the window first. It got so violent that two men beat each other to a pulp because one tried to take the other's turn! I of course took the opportunity and submitted my application while everyone was preoccupied with the fight.

If the people aren't enough, the actual employees are too lazy to even tell people to stand in a line, let alone actually do their job to get things moving! They simply sit on their ever widening asses sipping tea and dunking breadcrums into it at intervals, all the while talking about the latest in the world of underwear and bras with their fellow co-workers.

To top it all off was the perfect ending for the perfect day. As I entered the room where I was to be photographed, an ugly, grubby old man shouted at me, pointing at some official: "Move! Get out! Let the Pasha pass!" The Pasha and his two bitches, excuse the language, left the room quickly having cleared the path, only to bump into an old man also waiting his turn.
I, being annoyed by the entire experience, consolled the old man...

This experience taught me a lot of things, but the one most important piece of information I got from it all was simply this:
We're not called a third world country for nothing!

I love when someone has the courage to admit something embarrassing about him/herself infront of the whole world. But sometimes there are certian things left that should be left unsaid. Sometimes that thing can be common knowledge yet people choose not to speak of it because it's just not discussion material.
One such insance is the things that American new anchors seem compelled to say...
It was two days after Obama was announced the new president of the free world, after America's image had just stared to improve in the eyes of the international community and the prospect of change began to flood the minds of millions that a news anchor on CBS News decided to speak:

"Now matter how hard she tries and how much she talks about serious stuff like poverty, war, and human rights, all people really care about the first lady Michelle Obama, is what she's wearing!!"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but despite the fact that the statement is perfectly true, is that something you have to spell out so bluntly to the entire world on international television like that? Am I over-reacting to the unbeleivably stupid remark that the nice anchor made?

The eloquent young woman went on to run a nicely edited reportage of all the first lady's clothes throughout the two years of campaigning.
After the world had finally begun to take the American public seriously, she has to go say something as stupid as that! What is a regular person watching CBS supposed to think about the general American public after watching a "news" report such as that?

Another similar situation is the fact that ALL channels, satellite or otherwise, are talking about nothing but The Obamas' new puppy for the white house...picking out the perfect breed and color all the way down to the length of its nose hair! Forget the crumbling economy, forget Iraq and Palestine/Israel, all that doesn't even compare to the gravity of the choice of dog that the Obama family is now faced with!

Is it too much to ask that people at least try to pretend that they're even the slightest bit intellectual? It doesn't hurt to pretend that you care about something of meaning, really!

An update on my previous post: Since I'm only allowed to message the girl for things concerning college stuff, I can't ask her through the internet. And since, of course, I don't have her number, I won't be able to contact here. So I'll wait till september 20th when the new year starts to ask her what's going on in her head.
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Has it ever occurred to you that in a society as far behind in everything such as that of Egypt, people are so easily manipulated. Especially by the media. I mean, every once in a while a new fad comes along that EVERYONE is obsessed with, and imitates all day and night long.

For example, about two years ago the infamous "actor" if he could be called that, Mohamed Sa'ad (BOTTOM PICTURE) emerged out of thin air to captivate the ignorant minds of millions with his moronic display of complete idiocy in what he dared to call "movies". Something out of a two-bit TV horror flick, Mohamed Sa'ad managed to penetrate the homes of every lowlife in the country. Within days of his first "movie's" release, he skyrocketed to stardom, with everyone copying lines from his films, and imitating his "comedic" gestures which resembeled that of someone who should have been put into a straight jacket long ago.

Next came the worst of them all, the singing "sensation", the "king of our generation", Tamer Hosny (MIDDLE PICTURE). Anything he says is immediately transformed into religious doctrine. Teenage girls seem to worship the toilets he sits on, and his movies, no matter how boring and rediculous, always become amazing successes. He is called the "role model of all Egyptian teens"...well, if an ex-con, plagiarizer is what Egyptian youth is supposed to be, then so be it. It makes me sick to my stomach every time some stupid simple minded girl talks about how cute he is, or how amazing he is - when in fact he's nothing than a hairy gorrilla who insists on exposing his chest and underarm hair to the world.

Last but not least, Ahmed Mekki, (TOP PICTURE) a newcommer, whose new movie was just relesed today. Since he's new, I don't have much to say about him. I'm going to see his movie tomorrow with friends to see for myself. But I'm sure that once the Egyptian youth find the next idiot to worship, he'll be put on a distant shelf with the rest of the lowlifes like himself.

Does it have something to do with the economy? Do people's intellects simply evaporate into nothingness because of poverty? What has made us so gullible and stupid, so easy to manipulate, so willing to mindlessly imitate everything someone else does or says as if it were something sacred?

I've never been fond of statistics, beause you an never know how accurately a given sample can represent a population. But today I was proven wrong. I didn't read about a statistic, but watched three people from a distance who represented every other person I had ever met.

Two women dressed in what could have been considered provocative clothes (tight jeans and sleeveless shirts, etc...) were walking in the street - I'd just like to add that they were basically asking for a verbal harrassing by walking in the street they had chosen. To walk in front of a coffee shop filled with unemployed, middle aged, sexually frustrated men wearing tight jeans is like signing your own deathcertificate - Anyway, the whole street began to verbally abuse them, whistle, hiss at them, all them whores, prostitutes, etc...which left them cursing at the men and then crying by the time they had passed that street. Not long after, an old woman, who seemed to have grown up during a better time, screamed at the men at the top of whatever was left of her lungs about how what they were doing was wrong and unsophisticated.

Here's my conclusion from all this. The two girls represent the inredibly naive part of society, who sould know where to be and where to avoid at all costs. The men, of course, need no further explanation. And the old woman, who despite her good intentions, couldn't just keep her nose out of other people's business.

As impossible as this may sound, if everyone just minded their own business (letting people wear whatthey want without making a huge scene, etc...) we wouldn't have all these problems. I suppose a person could express disapproval of something, as is his/her right, but not by making everyone stare at someone for it, or make a scene by shouting for the whole world to hear about it. But I also think thatthissort of behavior is second nature to most people, and it would be naive to think thatthey would be willing to do otherwise. After all, who doesn't enjoy a nice big scene.