aka Why I don't feel safe in my own country
It’s Saturday night. The Spanish soccer Classico is on. The game is intense and the atmosphere tense as always. Then Barcelona scores! And a minute later, the sound of random flying bullets can be heard from my window. No, this is not a warzone I’m portraying, but it’s the repetitive image of a status quo in Lebanon. This is a first. Flying bullets don’t usual go out unless some politician is giving a speech on TV or some important political event is happening. But to start flying bullets for a soccer match, this time, they had gone too far.
This time, they had gone too far. I can’t seem to feel but sorry for what I’m saying. I’m actually implying that they exceeded the limit of something that is usually acceptable. I can’t but feel saddened to hear myself utter that it has become acceptable for “them” to go out and fly bullets in the air as a demonstration of joy and support for something as stupid as a political speech or a soccer match! But unfortunately this is the status quo in Lebanon, this is what has become “normal”, what has come to not bother us anymore and that we got accustomed to.
Who are they? It’s a very logical question to ask. I don’t really know. They differ from one speech to the other – depending on the party speaking. But when it’s a soccer match, you can’t really know who is flying these bullets. All you know is that someone, or many ones, have a gun and feel the urge to shoot it in the air whenever they feels like it. All I know is that someone, or many ones, have illegal guns that they take out whenever they want to rejoice and no one really chases them down to confiscate the arms from them. We really are helpless in front of this situation as citizens. We can’t do anything but sit down and take it that there are people out there who feel like it’s ok to jeopardize the lives of others and create a sense of insecurity in the country because they want to – AND THEY CAN.
I do not blame them totally. I blame our government who is unable to do anything in front of these people. I blame our government for being the exact reason why they sometimes shoot those bullets. I blame our government for supporting such acts of endangerment of our citizenship and our sense of security. I blame the government for being unable to provide me with the least sense of security to leave peacefully in the country I was born in.
It is the obligation of every government to provide its citizens with the minimum sense of security possible for them to feel safe and at ease in their own country. It is the right of every citizen of a country to feel like the government is actually working on providing him with the minimum sense of security possible for him to lead a safe and nice life in his own country. This is non-existent in Lebanon. I do not feel safe in my own country. I do not feel like my government or my fellow citizens are providing me with the minimum sense of security. I do not appreciate that I have to hear flying bullets and accept it as normal. I do refuse to accept it. But I can’t really do anything about it.
The Lebanese citizen is like a troublesome kid. Let’s say the kid breaks the vase. If you only scold him and tell him don’t do it again, it won’t mean much to him. He’ll go break the second vase dismissing your words as unimportant. But punish that kid for breaking the vase and next time he considers something like it, he will think twice before doing it because the consequences have become materialistic and physical rather than mental.
The Lebanese government only scolds whoever is doing wrong when it feels like it. Sometimes it doesn’t even bother to do so because it has become a repetitive vase breaking routine that scolding no longer works on. And the citizens of this country take advantage of the situation to break the simple laws they can escape with and enjoy doing it.
I’m not saying Lebanon is a crime filled country. Not at all. Do not take the wrong idea about this country because it is a safe country when it comes to crimes and theft and etc… But when it comes to the simplest things like stopping on a red light, following street directions and not going against circulation, following road signs, parking in the designated places and not wherever one find suitable etc, Lebanese citizens abuse the law because it’s the easy way out – and no one is there to punish them for it. No official authority is coming to the person parked illegally in the middle of a driving lane because all the other parking spots are taken and is telling him/her they are doing something illegal and giving them a fine for it. No. It happens very rarely, and people just take the easy way out, what makes them comfortable regardless of other citizens. They create their own sense of security and ease on the expense of the sense of security and ease of others. They compensate the lack of security non provided by the government by stepping over the security of other citizens.
I know that I have portrayed an ugly image of Lebanon in my article. Those of you who do not know the beauty of Lebanon would take the wrong idea about it from what I wrote. It is a really nice country, but it has a lot of corruption and slips that come along with it. And I had to raise my voice about this. I had to let the frustration out. I had to be politically incorrect for once and refuse to accept what has become “normal”.
I demand to be safe. I demand to be secure. I demand to live a nice comfortable life in my country. I demand to drive and not be obstructed by other citizens overriding the law. I demand to never hear anyone flying bullets for anything again. I demand to feel like a citizen. But unfortunately, very few have their ears open to listen in this country.
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