From Shipwrecks to Shrimp Sandwiches, a Guide to Optimism:
I was stuck in a dense pocket of traffic by the Abou El Rish Hospital in downtown Cairo. The Uber driver and myself were stewing in the heat and I was suffocating due to a hyperactive exhaust pipe vomiting gusts of stinky smoke in our faces. It had been a long and exhausting day:
-This country is becoming unbearable!
-What? No! Ostaza, this country is the best it’s ever been! It’s progressing! It’s getting better by the day! Look at the new capital! Look at all the new projects we are building!
-I can barely breathe.
-Neither can I, but it’s not important, it will get better. Inshalla, what is to come is better than what has come to pass.
-Sir, whatever you are taking seems quite efficient, what is it ? It might help me to get a change of prespective. واللهي الصنف إلي حضرتك بتاخده ده شكله فعال فا ياريت تقلنا عليه ممكن نشوف الدنيا حلوة الله هو اعلم
-HAHHAHAHA! Girls these days are funny! No Ostaza, there is always a way to make things better. I worked many jobs and I got to see the world through them. Some people are given the opportunity to improve and when they seize it, things get better. But some people don’t want to improve and that’s why nothing progresses. For example, I used to manage a seafood restaurant that sold shrimp sandwiches. One day, a street beggar came and asked me for a shrimp sandwich, I told him I could give him a job in the kitchens, he would have two meals a day, plus a decent pay and the job would consist in washing dishes which is pretty easy. He said looked at me as if I were crazy and just kept repeating “I want a shrimp sandwich”! So, I gave him a shrimp sandwich. That man had a chance to make a better life for himself, but he preferred a shrimp sandwich. They tell you, teach a man how to fish, don’t give him a fish, but he just wanted shrimp, I guess.
-Yes, but most people who are poor in this country work very, very hard and despite that they can’t always improve their situation. I’m sure you know that better than me. Where we end up isn’t really something we can control. I mean you can teach people how to fish all you want but when there is no fish left, what can we do ?
-Ostaza you don’t understand my point. Once upon a time there was a ship. It was leaving the harbour laden with goods and merchants. When the ship reached the open waters the crew and passengers realized that the ship was too heavy and would sink unless they threw some of the goods overboard. They first debated whether each merchant should throw a bit of his goods overboard in order to alleviate the weight, but they all refused. Finally, they all picked one merchant and decided to throw him and all of his merchandise overboard. He pleaded and pleaded but it was no good. They dumped him into the sea, and he swam until he found an island and built a little straw hut. He was happy in his hut until a thunderstorm struck and lit his hut on fire and it burnt to the ground. BUT BUT BUT!!! Because of this fire a boat was able to see him. They came to the island, and he told them his story and the injustice he had suffered. They replied, surprised “Oh! You were thrown off that merchant ship that sunk in a storm last week?”. So, you see Ostaza, when something bad happens, it’s often because God is protecting you from something even worse. Everything can be fixed by hard work and acceptance, this works for money problems, marriage problems, EVERYTHING!
-That’s a great story, has this theory worked for your marriage problems ?
-I mean yes and no. I got divorced last month, but I love my wife and I’m sure I’ll be able to get her back. We talk every day and in time things will take the course they were meant to take.
Photo by Waleed Rostom on Unsplash
