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09-20-2012, 11:03 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Columbus, OH
Posts: 601
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A Reason Not To Hate My Species
I was sitting in a shisha-shop in one of the lower-middle class neighborhoods of Alexandria today, and saw a blonde (and I think British) westerner (tourist?) walk past a homeless guy sitting on the street. On seeing that the homeless guy was barefoot, said European guy took the Nikes off of his own two feet and handed them to the homeless guy. The homeless guy tried to refuse, but the blonde dude pressed them into his grasp and said, in broken Arabic, انا لا محتاج. انت اكثر محتاج "I not need. You needing more" walked away. The homeless guy put the shoes on and ran over to blonde dude and hugged him. Blonde dude hugged him back, and walked away.
The homeless guy was crying, and so was I.
Last edited by AZ Foreman; 09-20-2012 at 11:08 AM.
Reason: Punctuation
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09-20-2012, 07:46 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Breaux Bridge, LA, USA
Posts: 3,511
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Well, this makes my day. Thanks for bearing witness to the goodness of humanity.
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09-20-2012, 07:55 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Toronto
Posts: 1,181
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Wonderful witness.
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09-21-2012, 04:14 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Middle England
Posts: 7,214
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A Reason Not To Hate My Species
"The homeless guy put the shoes on and ran over to the blonde dude and hugged him."
I was so relieved to read that; I was a little afraid that this was going to be "The homeless guy put the shoes on and ran over to the blonde dude and mugged him." (It would be like that in some places.)
It's always great to have one's faith in human nature restored. (On the news as I'm writing this is a programme about the two young British policewomen murdered in cold blood this week by a vicious killer. Horrible story.)
On a lighter note, we call females 'blonde', but a man with that colour hair is 'blond', so I thought your tale was about a woman at first!
(It cheers me to think that by far the majority of our species are nice people, AZ. The hateful ones are in the minority.)
Jayne
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09-21-2012, 05:02 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Taipei
Posts: 2,748
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Just Do It! Thanks for sharing that.
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09-21-2012, 01:20 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Berkeley, CA
Posts: 505
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Wow. Amazing.
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09-21-2012, 01:39 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Posts: 581
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Hi AZ,
It is a remarkable tale and a wonderful event. I'm glad you got to witness it first hand. These things stay with you as so many other things don't. And thanks for sharing --as you notice, even vicariously, we all want to bear witness.
That said: I do hope you are taking every precaution to look out for yourself. You are a stranger in a strange land and, unfortunately and especially in these difficult times, you cannot count on the same spirit of brotherhood to be universal --there or anywhere. Right there in Alexandria, right now, you are a potential target of some very irrational and violent anger. (The very rational and very well informed anger will not pick you as a target!)
I ain't your big brother, AZ, but that is only cuz, . . . well, I ain't big. Take care for yourself and keep this in mind: the kindness you witness and share is not universal. Godspeed and good luck.
Kevin
P.S. If you don't make it, can I have some of your books?
(Hey, I just don't like to see things go to waste!)
kjml
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09-21-2012, 01:48 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Plum Island, MA; Santa Fe, NM
Posts: 11,202
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Well told, AZ. There's a poem in there, but it would be difficult, at least for me, to carry off without coming across as sappy and sentimental. Or preachy. Like one of those things I see in New Verse News (not all of them, but many) that I agree with, but wince at. And yet AZ's narrative presentation is not sappy in the least - it's straightforward and moving. If I could figure out why the narrative appears to work better, to be a better approach, it would help my poetry. Is it because the voice AZ uses - the wise-ass "street" voice - is not a poetical voice, and consequently transcends sweetness and moralizing? If the anecdote was "poeticized" in a similar voice would it work? Or would it sound artificial? Or am I just being a jerk? All of the above? Dunno.
Last edited by Michael Cantor; 09-21-2012 at 03:11 PM.
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09-21-2012, 02:31 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, Canada
Posts: 7,526
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09-21-2012, 03:24 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Florida, USA
Posts: 3,401
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It was a relief to hear this story. Like Jayne, the "blonde" was a keyword for female at first (a sorry factoid) and I half expected a more confrontational conclusion. Not all recipients of largesse are so gracious. It's moving on both sides, the willingness to give, of course, but also the willingness to receive. Across cultural and rhetorical (stereotyping) barriers. There's so much of the opposite -- it's refreshing to hear this.
Best,
Siham
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