EGYPT: Chaos, war and traffic
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Egyptians ruefully ponder the traffic on their streets and the chaos in their hearts. They seek, especially in rattling, boisterous Cairo, anecdotes and asides to describe their exasperating predicaments. Here’s a sobering assessment from writer Suleiman Gouda, who recently mused in the newspaper Al-Wafd:
What’s really strange is that when an Egyptian is in a capital other than Cairo, he/she behaves well every step they take and turns from a chaotic creature, who is used to unlimited chaos in his home country, into a civilized person.
Gouda goes on to say that he was startled by a glimpse at traffic statistics:
When a recent report says that the number of those killed (and injured) in accidents in Egypt hit 73,000 in a single year, this only means what is happening in our streets is a war, not an ordinary movement of traffic. The U.S. has been fighting in Iraq for five years, and the number of its soldiers killed did not exceed 4,000!
Yet, somehow, Egyptian friendliness and a wry sense of humor overcome the din of horns and the screech of brakes in a tangle of rolling eyes and shared, knowing smiles.
— Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo
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