CLOUDS

Hi friends

Well, last time I posted, I was just a young and inexperienced adolescent, struggling to understand my purpose in my respective space and time. Unfortunately I am still just a young and inexperienced adolescent, struggling to find my purpose in my respective space and time, but now I have a different job, where I can still daydream about just how young and inexperienced I am as an adolescent, but while doing different things. Rather than polishing sharp glass, I now help a repair man fix broken sinks, showers, toilets, and other broken household appliances.

I will spare you, my reader, the boring details of the job, and instead mention the guy I am helping. His name is Saber, he is an Arab, and he is a really nice guy overall, though the fact that he is Arab introduces several interesting social subtleties. For example, I am helping him repair broken objects. I do have a little experience with this, and I did study engineering, so occasionally I may find myself in a position to advise him on how to do something. Even though I would only be offering help, I know I can’t, because of this aforementioned difference between us.

Yesterday Saber was trying to fix a broken drying machine, and he called for help some russians from the factory, some of whom I knew from my time there. He left to go get some parts, and a russian guy started talking to me about the usual stuff: life in America compared to here. He said the problem here is all the politicians push for solidarity with Israel, but have their own plane tickets ready in case war breaks out. Then he said if the arabs really wanted to, they would destroy israel from within, because, according to him, only 2 out of the 6 million residents of israel are jewish (note, this is not true). He then said if war broke out tomorrow, Saber would not hesitate to pick up a gun and kill me when I came to work. Right after he said that, Saber came back in and took a look at what we were doing, and I couldnt help but laugh.

Anyways, despite the fact that we repair (usually just replace) broken sinks all day long, its ironic that, in our main office for all repair men, the faucet is broken. Also its ironic that with such a naturally dirty job (unclogging toilet and shower pipes, etc), my boss Saber refuses to drink from a cup unless its brand new. Sometimes we have to drive all the way to the factory for a clean cup. Needless to say, I usually wait in the car.

On a separate note, some people here in Israel like to yell alot. Im not sure if its the Mediterranean mindset, or its something else, but sometimes you ask yourself what is going on right now. One theory Ive heard is that because of the tight regulations on violence (you are really punished for fighting someone), it leads to people feeling comfortable saying whatever they want. This theory came from a Russian guy who said that where hes from, if there is a decent reason, you can avoid punishment for fighting. He said he was once almost killed by 2 guys on a bench who weren’t satisfied with his answer to the questionthey posed, which was “why are you walking so fast.”

In any case, this was at first for me very intimidating but now I am used to it, in fact, I sometimes notice myself yelling back. Almost always its with taxi drivers.

Often they try to change the price when they drop you off. I was with Elliot and his cousin Rebecca when the driver tried to pull a fast one. He was a middle aged guy, who was seedy in character, who showed us how absent minded he was when he drove the whole way in the middle of the road, taking up 2 lanes. When we arrived, I gave him the fare and was expecting my change. He sees I have more money than the agreed fare so he starts telling me how expensive gas is and how he wasn’t sure where the destination was, etc etc etc. I calmly told him, with a serious face,

thief, if you dont give me my correct change, i will pull out a pistol and shoot you.

I said it in all honesty, and it didnt even occur to me that it could be funny until elliot started laughing. In fact I still dont think its funny, but Elliot insisted I post it here.