I
remember before leaving Egypt, almost 25 years
ago, it was common to see line ups for buying
chicken, sugar and cooking oil on a daily
basis. This was mainly at government
operated mini supermarkets known in Arabic as
"Gameya".
If you
were not rich, this was the only way to buy these
products among others, at affordable prices.
Middle class people simply could not afford buying
their basic food supplies from a butcher or a
supermarket at exorbitant costs. They did
not mind hours of wait in a line up, being shoved
and pushed to put their hands on a pair of chicken
(if they were lucky enough to find any left when
their turn came).
Back
then, you might have found an excuse for this,
putting aside corruption, you could have blamed it
on the economy suffering because of war times.
25
years later and to my sad discovery, I came across
one of those line ups and once again this was not
in a poor neighborhood, but a city, once used to
be a pick of the crop city (Dokki/ Mohandessien
area).
What
happened or let's say what didn't happen .. We are
not at war anymore .. the rich are getting richer
and the poor are getting poorer with the middle
class almost non existent. How could people endure so
much suffering day after day and year after year
without doing anything about it. But what
can they do!
You see
the misery in people's eyes wherever you go and I
am talking about the people in the streets not the
rich and famous or government officials who are
enjoying the country's wealth for over 23
years. Did most of the people, really say yes to this
government, electing them term
after term for over 23 years?!
Unfortunately,
many don't think of these issues as their basic
right and their right to live with dignity and their
government duty to deliver or simply get out and
give a chance to someone else to better these
people's lives. Could that ever be a reality or will it always be
nothing more than a fantasy. Dream on while
listening to an Arabic song filled with heart
aching lyrics.
Egyptians
deserve better and should get better and maybe one
day they will shout " Lel Sabr Hedoud" basic
translation "Enough is enough".
Enough Lies, enough deception, enough corruption,
enough fear, enough pain, enough misery and the
list goes on...
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