Story of an Egyptian

Well, it was an ordinary Thursday, I went out, then saw a movie at midnight. On my way back with a friend I was driving in Salah Salem st. and noticed how nice the Baron palace looks at night after its (partial) renovation, so I stopped to try and take a few photos, it was around 3:30 am

The gates to the garden were closed so I was trying to take a few shots from outside, by the fence, when a security person came from nowhere and asked us what we were doing.

I told him we were trying to take some photos. He was a young man, around 25 years old I think, he offered to take the camera and take some closer shots for us including ones from inside as he had access. I knew he wouldn't be able to take good shots at night and that the photos should come out all shaky, but I said OK, thanks.

He went around for 5 minutes or so and then came back (my friend was worried the guy would steal my camera and vanish) with a few very shaky shots. I smiled and complemented him on the photos he took and was about to go home. But he started chit-chatting. I don't normally like it when total strangers, people who are not friends or friends of friends, start to talk and never stop. People like taxi drivers, a stranger on the bus, and such. So it started off with me just smiling and trying to get out of it. He asked us where we're from, and turns out he lives somewhat close to me. 5 Kms from where I live or something. He got so excited about it. He talked about himself a bit, and told a story of how just the other day he caught a guy and a girl sneaking in at 2 am to do "naughty" stuff, we had a laugh about it.

He asked me if the car parked right next to us is mine, I replied positively. He then asked me if I could drive him on his engagement day. It was totally unexpected to me and I was more than a bit surprised at first. I thought it was too daring for him to ask someone he just met minutes ago for his car for his engagement day. So anyway just to be polite I asked him when his engagement is taking place and he said it should be after Ramadan, that is around 3 months from now. I sighed in relief and apologized politely mentioning that I am to relocate to the US earlier than that.

He was obviously bored with sitting in there doing nothing all night and wanted to just kill time chatting with people, so he asked me what I am to do when I arrive at the US. I don't know why but I didn't want to tell him that I got a job at Microsoft and that I'll go there to work for them. Perhaps I didn't want to brag, and perhaps I didn't want to say all that much to a stranger (although I'm publishing it for the whole Internet to see), but most of all, I think I didn't want him to feel bad about it. You know, like you wouldn't wanna brag about your luxurious lifestyle in front of a poor man? Something like that. The guy obviously was only used to one small part of the world, I did not want to be the one who exposes him to the rest of it, I thought it could be quite a shock.
So, I told him I'll think about what to do when I get there and that I was going searching for a better chance to get on with my life.

To my surprise, he wished me the best of luck (looked like he really meant it) and then asked me for permission for him to advise me, telling me that he thinks of me as a brother, he proceeded to tell me about how hard it's gonna be, how I am gonna be homesick, and how I have to make friends or else I won't be able to stand on my feet. It was all useless as it was based on what I told him earlier about how I'm gonna be unemployed there. But his care and sincerity really touched me. He had my interest in his mind and was trying to help. A total stranger that I'd known for minutes and may never see again.

He then proceeded to tell the story about his own experience, and how studied commerce and when he graduated stayed unemployed for a while, till his father (through someone he knew) could get him a job as a security person in the company "Arab Contractors" which sent him to The Baron palace. He told me he's being paid 450LE ($75 US) a month, and talked enthusiastically about how he and his father then thought it was time for him to get married now that he can afford to support a family. So he proposed to this girl who's a neighbour of his, and they set their engagement date to be right after Ramadan, with plans to get married within 3 years.

It was a completely strange and rather enlightning experience. The guy was excited about his engagement, smiling all the while he's talking, he was so simple, so good-hearted, and so full of life. More so than millionaires I know. He gets paid a tiny fraction of what I or anyone I know is paid. Yet, he was not desperate, he was not sad or bitter. And he was determined to make the best out of what he's got.

He talked to me about his past, his monthly salary, and his future plans, while he'd known me for a few minutes. There are people I knew for years who'd be reluctant to give out that much information to me, let alone to a stranger they met by mere coincidence.

It's been a couple of days and I'm still thinking about that guy and his story. At first I felt angry for people who, like him, have to live with so little.
It was almost heart breaking to see there are lots of people living below the line of poverty.
Now that I had more time to reflect on the whole thing. I really don't know if "we" should be sad for "them", with their simplicity, good heartedness, almost no worries life they're leading. Or if "they" should be sad for "us", with our endless needs we have to fulfill, complicated lives, and hidden agendas......