"لا حول ولا قوة الا بالله, these idiots at Tahrir are going to ruin the whole country!" said the customer, a chubby balding man in his 40s.
"it's already ruined Pasha. Look around you" said the owner, a man also in his early 40s. A thin, tanned man wearing a blue shirt that looks like it's been through decades of daily grind.
From my seat, I looked around the small cafe. Sure, it wasn't the most sophisticated cafe in Cairo, and sure, there were around three cats sleeping near my feet, and sure, my coffee cup looks like it's been breeding grounds for god-knows-what kind of species, but it wasn't too shabby; they had over a 100 channels on their small tv and big amplifier hooked up the radio, they were grand!
"What do you mean Mounir?" said the customer, putting his newspaper down and taking a deep long drag from his shisha.
Ah, Mounir, so that's his name.
"We've been going from bad to worse for over 800 years, you think those idiots are bad? They're just the final screen of honey on a dish of Basbousa!" said Mounir from his spot near the radio, hands busy cleaning several tea mugs.
"what's gone is gone Mounir"
"sure it is, I just can't seem to understand why you're so pissed off at those idiots, weren't you happy with the revolution?"
"well, ya, I was happy, but now they're going to ruin everything"
"Let them ruin it, it's been ruined for a very very long time now, can't get much worse can it?"
One of the cats near my feet decided my ankle was too hot for this summer day and got up to sleep in the shade near the opposite wall.
"so you're ok with all of this?" asked the customer casually, lungs still inhaling unbelievable amounts of smoke.
"not really, but as long as I can run this place in peace, I really don't care about much else, let it burn, none of us are taking any of it with him to the grave" said Mounir, brewing the second coffee I ordered mid-conversation.
"By God's grace you've spoken the truth. No one is taking anything to his grave. محدش واخد حاجه القبر معاه"
Yes indeed chubby balding man, no one is. Yet, is that what we've come to? I stared at Mounir, then at the chubby man, then at the two cats sleeping near my feet and the traitor-cat. Five creatures that have assembled here on this hot summer day, appeased with what it got in life, no concerns except to get through the day, getting food to eat, sleeping well, and then dying at some point. As the saying goes over here in Egypt, ولا من شاف ولا من دري
Thanking Mounir for his excellent coffee I sipped half of it at once, paid the man and got up, brushing the cats gently away. It wasn't even noon yet, yet I've learned something new. It truly is a wonder how much you'll learn from two random men and three cats.
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