Persiflage & Paroxysm

When I look at the mess other countries are in, with crises to the left of us, and crises to the right of us, I thank whatever all powerful being out there that is watching out for us, and who has so far spared us from being plunged down a deep dark abyss. Take the Greeks for example. A recent BBC documentary on the real repercussions of the Greek crisis on ordinary Greeks sent a shiver up my spine as I thought to myself: “My God, if Europe can fail, if all that was golden and shiny in the eyes of third-world folk like myself can suddenly all fall apart, what hope have we got!?” In the back of my mind, and in minds of many Lebanese, there was one simple question being asked and it was searching for an answer: Where do I go now if my country actually turns into a failed state (again) and I can no longer live in safety here or earn enough to feed myself and my family? For us, packing a suit case and boarding a flight to 'anywhere other than here,' is a fact of life that I have le...

Ever wonder why our paper currency deteriorates so rapidly. I mean a couple of years from the issuance of a brand new crisp note and the paper goes limp and tattered, the whole note seems to be covered with a layer of ‘hazy-brownish-gunk’, for want of a better description, plus the colors are no longer as bright any more and it smells, what’s more. There must be a reason for this, this is my guess: The old tattered money in our wallets (lower denominations mostly) have, chances are, passed through the digestive tracts of a beggar or two at some point. Now if that won’t get you to wash your hands after handling money, I don’t know what will! We see them at traffic stops and in rush hour walking between slow moving metal chariots, sometimes chasing after a large shinny car hoping its well fed occupant might deign to give them an ‘alf’ or ‘khames-talef’ before rolling up his/her window. These kids, who should ideally be in school, are exploited by adults, and are as tightly regimented as ...

It is not true that good manners cost nothing. Based on this fallacy, our nation should in theory be the best behaved, most kind, gentle, good tempered and respectful of all the nations of the Earth, as we absolutely love freebies! The truth is that to have good manners and to be respectful of others you first have to respect yourself. In a society such as ours, where, sadly, self worth is based... on society's crude assessment of one’s net financial worth, the young who have very little financial means are given little regard and thus have very little self respect. This is the case because they grew up in a country that respects only money, greed, and personal aggrandizement. So, when our penniless university graduates enter the real world their egos get a serious battering, to the extent that those who are sensitive and unsure of themselves never develop that crucial self respect, the immunity for the soul. As such 'he who lacks a thing cannot give it.' Good manners...