A Company that beats all Butts; KIDS!

 

   It's been a while since I was last at a social gathering where I felt so out of place and alone despite the crowd that surrounded me. Just like bullies who are fond of picking fights, my brain loves taking advantage of minor incidents to squeeze my phyche and dwell on deeper thoughts.

   Mentioning this is basically stating the obvious, but we all know how we are highly influenced by the people we spend most of our time with. For the past 7 months, I have been spending 6 hours/day, 5 days/week with 3-year-olds, and I'm starting to believe that the influence they have on me is much greater than any influence I may have on them.

   The following are merely the crust reasons why the company of children seems to be more enriching than any I've ever been surrounded with, and why I seem to feel more alienated among adults.

The gecko we found in class

   Life never fails to feel like an adventure. Most of those who know me would also know how I'm a adrenaline junkie who's constantly in pursuit of 'an edge', something to give me a thrill. For someone whose knowledge of the world is barely starting to form, anything can be adventure if you choose to present it as one. It can be an adventure to spot a fat juicy spider in the garden, or to keep chasing after the rabbit which seems to really hate those kids, or to find a massive gecko joining our class time. It can also be introducing far off places and concepts to them, like the savanna, or space. And the most rewarding part of this adventure is the sparkle you see in their eyes.

   They are a perfect place to invest your emotions; it always pays off. Emotions, and love in particular, are such valuable assets that require careful handling. Some of us have been through heart aching situations where the people we chose to put faith in just didn't have equal faith in us. That's almost never the case with kids (and I add 'almost' because I don't like generalizing, not that I have concrete evidence against this fact). Giving love to a child, even if you force yourself to fake it, can literally turn his/her life around. And when you see how grateful kids are for the love you give them, you just find yourself trapped with no other option but to love them even more. It's an ever growing spiral of love, unless you choose to hinder it, or overlook it.

   When they say something, they mean it. Yes, I brag about getting the chance to deal with the only fragment of human race that does not yet know hypocrisy. When you're around adults, you exert a lot of effort to decode everything. What did they actually mean by saying this? Why did they actually do that? There always seems to be a hidden code, one that is more true than what we see. Kids don't have those levels. They're a company where what you see is what you get. They neither know how to fake things, nor how to hide how they actually feel. And this makes life a hell lot easier, and much much more genuine. I get called "YOU ARE SHIT!" (of course, it's more amusing in the Arabic version "انتى ككّا") , and I also get the greatest amount of heart felt hugs and kisses I have ever got in a lifetime. And I love them both equally, because even when I'm called shit, I know that there's a substantial amount of anger than needs to be addressed, and that once it's talked through, no grudges are held.

   A non-judgmental zone the way non-judgmental should truly be. There isn't much to say here, other than that they are blessed with not knowing as many criteria of judgment as we have been taught throughout life. The only thing they know how to judge upon is whether you treat them with love and respect or not.

   You would imagine that with whatever experience I have gained in 22 years, there's so much that I have to teach those kids, but I guess it is precisely because of whatever experience I have had in those 22 years that those kids are the ones who have a lot they can teach me. I walk in there every day aware of what I would like to teach them, but they walk in there every day unaware of the amount of life they kick into my soul.

   Of this I'm quite sure, that I'll need an immense amount of social rehabilitation the day I quit this job to carry on exploring.

Conversation with a Bearded Taxi Driver

The driver mentioned had a much denser beard (archive photo)

Such a hypocritical world that we live in, where freedom of expression is called for at the top of the lungs, and walls of stereotypes rise faster, taller and stronger than ever. Beyond those walls is where social life grows in richness and vividness.

Back in my college days, I spent a hell lot of time commuting across the vast and crowded streets of Cairo, with no one keeping me company but my music player. One day, as I stood at the side of the road to stop a taxi, fate brought my way one of the many bearded taxi drivers of Cairo. In a perfect stereotypical world of which I am a citizen, that man would be categorized as first class Islamist, with fanatic ideologies.

"What are you listening to?" was the first thing he asked to initiate conversation. At that moment, my music player seemed like an enemy that was about to get bombarded with criticism for the music it holds, and how I'd rather be listening to Qur'an rather than music.

To my surprise, the driver instead started inquiring about the various foreign music genres, and which among them did I enjoy most. But nothing can beat that moment when he started talking about ‘that young Canadian boy’ who has grown very popular; next thing I know, we're discussing Justin Bieber and the commercial music industry!

Having expressed my dislike for the shallow and hollow content of the commercial music sweeping the streets, he turned in surprise to ask, "You don't listen to love songs, and romantic ones?" My reply in negative seemed to naturally push him to advise me to "live your femininity; you're a girl!"

"Teenagers and youth are taking it way too seriously these days," he replied to my inclination towards favouring local bands who tackled serious issues through their music over the previously mentioned musical content.

How I really wished that my destination was a little farther, for I was quite enthused to hear more about what music was like for him back in the days 'when MJ was still a rising star.'

I may have encountered many bearded men apart from this gentleman who have left a negative impression, one that I falsely applied to all who embraced the same visage. It's sad that I may have avoided a conversation with this very interesting gentleman because of acts that he did not commit.

We've been created with differences so that we would get to know each other, rather than group up with everyone who looks and sounds alike, for then... the world becomes what it is right now!