...when I struggle (in disbelief) to get off a packed elevator because someone waiting to get on just seems to absolutely HAVE to get into the packed elevator the absolute Goddamn second the doors open, even if it means pushing through the stampede of the people who are also trying to get off, and making it inside like they're saying "fuck you, I'm getting on NOW" one grunted syllable at a time.
...when a close lady friend calls me on my cell from her car, sobbing and scared shitless, because some guy she sassed and flipped off in traffic stepped out of his car and was banging on her door -as we spoke- to beat the living crap out of her, rabidly yelling all kinds of profanities at her. Thank God it was locked.
...when I get home after a 2-hour, just 20-km drive in insane traffic, after dodging about 250 four-wheeled projectiles aimed at me, only to find that the the security and comfort of my home is being raped by a guy in my street shooting with an AK-47 in the air for whatever reason.
Really, all in one day seems like too much to handle, and I just wanna leave...
When our reputation precedes us as a country with such a rich heritage, such a rich melting pot of cultures and influences, all I can think of is the following: What about our political crap, our even stinkier economic crap, and all the crap in general that has fallen on this country?? It all stinks like hell...I really wonder... How the hell can we live in a place like this and have the nerve to call it the Eastern Switzerland or the Eastern Paris?? Have we even seen Switzerland or Paris??
Why so Proud?
Proud to be Lebanese? Proud of our nonexistent and yet so vehemently flaunted, overstated hospitality, friendliness, culture and sophistication? I'm sorry, I just can't see any of it, and what's worse for me, I can't seem to forcefully convince myself of it like everyone else does. No, Not me... All I see is a less-than third world country, a fucking jungle, with lots and lots of big animals feeding off each other and defecating where others live. Switzerland looks nothing like this, and Paris? Not even close.
Just because a lucky few get to live in Achrafieh or Verdun, shop at Milord and Emporio Armani, and sip on Grey Goose martinis at Skybar later in the night, doesn't mean we live in Europe, or that we're even close to being a civilized, developed country. To me the shame of not having any form of civilized services, homeland security, or any shred of sovereignty in our stupid government (let's not get into that right now), the country's poverty, and the staggering, mostly hidden savagery of the so called hospitable Lebanese are much more meaningful than having a few imported cultures that aren't even ours to begin with.
But that's just me...
To see what others seem to think about Lebanon and its people
"Lebanese society is very modern and similar to certain cultures of Mediterranean Europe. It is often considered to serve as Europe's gateway to Western Asia as well as the Asian gateway to the Western World.." - Wikipedia on Lebanon
And when others say it better than me... Welcome to the Real World.
Very different opinions indeed.
Excuse the language...
4 comments:
reminds me of a few posts I'd written back in November...
...but apparently, too much of Lebanon has a numbing effect. Sadly.
Tonight, we had a debate with a guy who'd been living in Dubai for 6 years and who nonchalantly insisted he 'hated' the people of Egypt because the few he'd met were not like the 'Lebanese'.
Had this been a few months back, I would've been shocked and angry. Tonight, I sat there and debated while all the time knowing that this guy's tiny little brain could take only this much.
... People need to wake up ...
This is not Lebanon.Everyone's leaving and there's a reason...
ya...
Lebanon is holy. Its people at some point lost it!
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