Cairo, the 14th January, 2011

Car accident and egyptian fatalism...

Today I had my first car accident in Cairo.
Early morning and not a particularly crowded path and still we managed to crash...

After so many rides all over town, having an accident in this crazy place is not surprising and one could even expect for it as drivers over here seem to have no sense of civility or respect for each other's space.

After returning from the hospital, all I could think about (and get REALLY nervous about) was not injury related or the eventual shock of the accident still residind in me.
What got me nervous until now was the typical FATALISM of egyptians that brings these - and other - kinds of episodes.
The usual typical way of thinking of most egyptians puts the blame of everything bad that happens in the evil eye and, ultimately, in God's hands.

They may do their best to lose something and yet when they GOT the result of that effort of loss, they get surprised and cry over the spilt milk:
"Oh, my God! What bad luck I have...Maalesh...God wanted it that way so I have to accept it."

They may drive with their babies hanging from motorcycles with no protection and yet when babies get injured in an accident, they will not blame themselves for it but: GOD!

They may not work and do the effort to reach what they want and yet when they realize they never reached what they dreamt of, again and again, they blame God's will.

It just makes me crazy this typical egyptian fatalism that recognized no responsability to human beings. It's all if God wants because God wants and it seems there is nothing in their hands to do to avoid disasters and reach good things.

As I drove in this taxi, I saw him do all kinds of dangerous moves and mistakes in the road. I watched along as he did risque maneuvres and passed by another cars with the distance of milimeteres. I warned him that we would crash. I KNEW we would have an accident.
I JUST KNEW. Not because I am a witch receiving messages from God but because it was obvious, due to the driver's actions, that we were heading for disaster. Literally.

And we did!
As we waited for our turn to be assited at the hospital, all he could say was: "What bad luck I had. But, if God wanted it this way, then we have to accept it."
I was not in a good shape in order to fight back with him at this moment so I just sat waiting for my turn and controlled myself but, actually, all I wanted was to squeeze his throat and make him shut the F........................ up!

"No, dear Stupid Sir, it was not bad luck.
It was not God's will. It was your actions and attitudes that led to the accident. I warned you and you kept doing your best to have an accident. Why on earth would you be surprised to get one in the end?!!!!"

I am still shaky and feeling weak. Still nervous and tired since this morning's terrible event but all I think about is how damned stupid this fatalism is...
No responsability belonging to anyone. It's ALL in God's hands!

Aggghhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr