I've been to
Paris once before in an impossible trip for less than 12 hours. The group I
accompanied back then had some sort of a plan to rush and catch a glimpse of
all Must-Be-Seen in Paris. Of course we had different views, to me the two main
things were to see "Tour Eiffel" and have coffee in one of the
streets of the "Quartier Latin". I did see the tower back then but I
don't remember getting any near the Latin Quarter, though my companions
believed we did! During this trip I had more time and an experienced guide so
I'm sure I made it to the Quarter. I enjoyed walking in the narrow streets and
watching the small shops and tried to map all the sights to the description
I've always read in literature.
In a nice
coffee shop near the borders of the Quarter and while waiting for our coffee
and ice-cream to be prepared, a woman standing in the line to order suddenly
shouted and turned to yell at the man standing right behind her saying "thief".
She said a lot of words which I didn't understand as she was talking in French,
and even hit the man and kicked him out of the place. I admired her courage and
people in the line cheered her.
This is the
nice part of the story, the sad part is that my little nephew noticed that the
man was about to cry while he walked out of the shop. I'd exclude the
possibility that he was not trying to steal and she misunderstood him and that
is why he ended up with this grieved. So the more probable possibility is that
he has to steel; to eat, to feed a family etc. I'm not trying to find excuses
for him because my moral beliefs are crystal about this but the sad truth is that there
isn't enough justice in the world. I remember a song, by the beetles I believe,
which say "… and sympathy is all what we need my friend… and sympathy
is all what we need… because there is not enough love to go around…"
and I feel it truly now. I also remember Omar Ibn AlKhatab, who simply symbolizes
justice in my view, when he didn't impose the supposed punishment for stealing
because there was a famine and some people had to steal to eat and feed their
families. I know that back then he did his best so that each individual in the
community gets a fair share in the revenues of the country but when that was
not enough he made this exception.
In Egypt, we live in a
society with very large gaps in income among its individuals; I wish to witness
the day when social justice prevails in our country, a day when everyone has
enough to live in freedom and dignity.
30 June 2012
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