I
agree with writer Newton in some of what he writes… and sometimes I disagree
and refuse what he says regarding assessing historical eras and political
orientations… however, we are on good terms with each other no matter what the
disagreement is… when I read his article last Monday morning about true justice,
I stopped before his advice for those who look for employees for posts they
have… especially the paragraph asking not to ask the applicant about his age as
“this may affect the selection process… especially if the applicant was old in
age… in such case, we would have been practicing a serious kind of discrimination
against the old… since old people are just like the young ones; they are still
alive”.
It
is self-evident why I stopped before this paragraph… because I am over 70 years
old… and in many times – and despite my western-style elegance; meaning the complete
suit with the tie – I am being addressed by “Haj”… or even “welcome,
grandpa”… and sometimes, some volunteer to help me go up the stairs or get off
a car thinking they are doing me good… I cannot hide that I do not like this Haj
title although I did the religious duty of Hajj and two Umrahs
also… I also do not like to be called “engineer” as it is almost the case in
Egypt when you address a man you do not know.
In
such regard, I cannot lie… I admit that sometimes I try to make use of this age
thing… and I tend to put the stick – of which I have different shapes that I brought
from different places or received some of them as gifts – I lean on next to me…
I also pick certain ones when going on certain errands, especially errands to
government institutions and congested public places since the appearance of an
old man leaning on a stick may give some kind of priority… in some other cases,
I apologize saying “excuse me… as you can see… I am an old man” if I am in the
middle of an empty of meaning argument where no discussion or logic does any
good at all.
As
to the big problem that old people face is when they are right and got
subjected to an injustice or aggression from someone… in this case, you try by
all reasonable ways to stand against such injustice… with proper logic
sometimes… with making pleas some other times… with silence some third times… until
you lose your temper… at that moment, the aggressor yells at your face with
that known replies: “go away… you are an old man”… “I won’t reply to you because
you are an old man”…”I swear I would have showed you what you deserve except
that you are an old man”… “Go away and stop this gibberish of old men”… at this
moment, man feels adrenaline flooding in his blood and wishes if he can grab
the neck of that one saying such words with his own hands… to let him know that
being old in age does not mean having no dignity to defend oneself and does not
kill man’s ability to resist.
My
old friend Kamel Zoheiri used to severely mock this thing called “conflicts of
generations”… as there was a trend in the eighties that appeared among those
who were at their forties at that time and were before leaders of students’
movements and secret political groups and members of the organization of youth…
they used to mock old men who became experienced in all leading positions…
whether political, economic, media or cultural… meaning leading positions at
large… it also happened at that time that capital investment corporations or
capital employing companies; those that played a negative role in the Egyptian
economy and were the reason behind many dying out of anguish and others paralyzed
for losing their money, rose… and so Kamel Zoheiri coined the term “employing generations”
like that term of employing money.
I
remember a hot debate that took place between Mr. Kamel and late dear friend
Ahmed Abdallah Rozza who was one of those defending this theory of generations
to the extent that he called the centre he established in Ain Es-Sira “Al-Geel
centre” or the centre of generations… once Dr. Rozza was fully convinced of an
idea, he used to enthusiastically and fervently defend it that his veins stand
out on his neck and blood goes flooding to his already blond face… while late
Mr. Zoheiri used to discuss calmly and did not miss the chance to mitigate the
heated discussion with a joke or even signs from his big bulky hands.
In
that discussion, Kamel Zoheiri focused on explaining the relation between age and
human capabilities, especially the mental and emotional ones… and that youth is
not only an age group but a feeling that inhabits man’s conscience and mind
even if he is an old man exceeding 60 or 70 as per the birth certificate.
Back
to Newton, who can clearly express his idea once it is complete in his mind in
the fewest number of words… and sometimes he can also convince anyone who reads
his lines… however, that does not mean that he does not go wild from time to
time when it has to do with the wealth.
Translated
into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article was published in Almasry alyoum newspaper
on May 10, 2017.
To see the original article, go to:
#almasry_alyoum #ahmed_elgammal #generations_conflict
#age
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