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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 August 2000 Issue No. 496 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 August 2000 Issue No. 496
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Maalesh
By Fayza Hassan
As we drove out of Maadi the other day, we had to go through a newly formed lake, the consequence of one more burst water pipe. For a Maadi dweller this was nothing out of the ordinary; lakes form and dry out and no one seems to be the worse for it. Water is squandered needlessly? Maalesh!
More unexpected, however, was the behaviour of the young man driving behind us in a 4x4, who picked up speed in the middle of the puddle for no obvious reason and splashed our car generously with a gush of sewer water. My daughter, in the driver's seat, was thoroughly drenched. She was going to a party and the putrid whiff that accompanied the stream was clear indication that she would have to return home for a shower and a change of clothes. Furious, she pursued the offender and caught up with him. "What are you doing?" she mouthed in his direction. He leaned out and mouthed back "souri," whereupon he revved his engine and took off in a cloud of dust.
"What is happening to people?" my daughter groaned, almost in tears. I tried to console her. "Amina was run over at the Gezira Club, of all places, and all the driver did was to say he was sorry," I told her. "In a way, you should consider yourself lucky."
An architect told me once that one can observe the breakdown of a civilisation when its people begins to paint official buildings in strange colours. He was protesting the popular new trend of redoing old buildings in shades of pink, mauve and bright yellow. Although I may agree with his aesthetic view, I think there are more important things to consider, like the total disregard for the well-being of fellow citizens. Garbage is dumped unceremoniously out of windows, the upstairs neighbour's washing trickles indelible dark drops on one's own, the noise of radios, televisions and tape recorders turned to maximum volume at any hour of the day or night deafens us, constant infractions of the most basic traffic rules puts our lives at risk, gratuitous cruelty to domestic animals breaks our hearts, the potholes in newly tarred roads break our cars, and the general rudeness of bureaucrats as well as the population at large causes us to forget compassion for the plight of others. These, however, are just the tip of the iceberg -- simply little signs of the rapid demise of our humanity.
We usually dismiss the unpleasantness with a shrug: "Maalesh," we say encouragingly to each other. "The people are warm, friendly and full of fun, they mean no harm really, and they themselves have to put up with a great deal of misery." But do they really? Maybe accurate half a century ago, such apologies no longer hold much water when one is forced to take in the total contempt with which one's inalienable rights are constantly violated, especially when the culprits are neither the poor nor the downtrodden. Young men recklessly driving expensive cars do not live in slums, factory owners who disdainfully pollute the city's air have out-of-town retreats where they can clean their lungs periodically and it is certainly not for lack of an extensively motorised police force that road accidents are treated like a big joke. We also have a proper code of laws to protect the ordinary citizen; the problem is that we suffer from a pathological reluctance to enforce it.
On the floor above mine, my landlord has established a thriving clothes factory in blatant contravention of the Maadi Company statutes and Local Council laws.
Two shifts of workers trundle up and down the stairs noisily, while small trucks obstruct the building entrance constantly, loading and disgorging miscellaneous piles of merchandise. "Maalesh, you have to bear with us," the landlord's son told me with a smile, although he did not say why. He withheld the true reason, which should run more or less as follows: "Look, lady, you are putting up with the inconvenience because you cannot afford to move. I do as I please and there is no one stopping me." These same words are used on a daily basis by lawbreakers and rights-abusers throughout the country.
A friend to whom I was complaining told me wisely: " Maalesh, don't lose any sleep over this. If you can't beat them, join them."
Now when I am assaulted, I have learned not to seek redress through acceptable channels but simply think of ways of vindicating myself. It is not always possible, of course. We did not have a pot of paint handy to throw on the young man who gave my daughter an impromptu bath, but when the young workers from the factory began to place their rubbish in my bin because they were having an argument with the garbage collectors, I promptly spilled its contents on the stairs, making sure that the bulk of it was carefully strewn in front of my landlord's door. The next day my pail remained pristine, and they took to throwing the sacks out of the windows. Now at least the problem has become the shared concern of the other tenants as well. Uncivilised behaviour, no doubt, but maalesh. Since I am powerless to have the law enforced, I can at least protect myself.
