Friday, August 26, 2005
A Previous Journal Entry
I thought I would post a previous journal entry from my time in Egypt as a fun thing for today. I must work quickly as the computer is being "good" at the moment and I don't want to make him act up again...
I enjoy watching the people run as a group toward buses and vans in a contest to get to the one empty seat first. I never realized the impact of population on the behavior of the people, and as sometimes it c
an be amusing, other times it can be a major annoyance. These people fight each other for a bus seat as seagulls fight for a piece of bread tossed on the pavement. In some areas the traffic is so congested from the taxis, vans and pedestrians, not to mention the fruit stands and donkey carts, that at times I tend toward claustrophobia. It is worse in the heat. Summertime also seems to create a population reproduction of sorts. I never know where all these crowds of people come from, but 'round about May, one day they just pop up, where previously they were not, each one believing that the entire sidewalk belongs to him and daring me not to move out of the way. I can never understand why, when there is an entire street full of space to walk, a person believes he has to walk over me. It's as if I have a bullseye painted on my forehead and a sign that says "pedestrians only". They aim, I swear.
The "seagulls", as I have aptly named them, walk in the same manner in which they drive. There are no lines, no rules, no standard. They do not understand the concept of a comfort zone and as a result, are very likely, more often than not, to be standing, walking or driving in mine.
I enjoy watching the people run as a group toward buses and vans in a contest to get to the one empty seat first. I never realized the impact of population on the behavior of the people, and as sometimes it c
an be amusing, other times it can be a major annoyance. These people fight each other for a bus seat as seagulls fight for a piece of bread tossed on the pavement. In some areas the traffic is so congested from the taxis, vans and pedestrians, not to mention the fruit stands and donkey carts, that at times I tend toward claustrophobia. It is worse in the heat. Summertime also seems to create a population reproduction of sorts. I never know where all these crowds of people come from, but 'round about May, one day they just pop up, where previously they were not, each one believing that the entire sidewalk belongs to him and daring me not to move out of the way. I can never understand why, when there is an entire street full of space to walk, a person believes he has to walk over me. It's as if I have a bullseye painted on my forehead and a sign that says "pedestrians only". They aim, I swear.The "seagulls", as I have aptly named them, walk in the same manner in which they drive. There are no lines, no rules, no standard. They do not understand the concept of a comfort zone and as a result, are very likely, more often than not, to be standing, walking or driving in mine.
