Yesterday while having a nice cup of Kusmi tea with my friend and her children, the phone rings and in one second our afternoon tea transforms into this:
Hello, yes?
NO!!!!
WHEN?
WHERE?
ARE THERE ANY DEAD PEOPLE?
And so on..
The scenario unfolds in the same way each time there is an explosion in Beirut.
We then rush to the TV searching for a channel that would broadcast the news live, while in the same time each one of us tries frantically to call our loved ones on the mobile, well knowing that the lines would be shut down because of the huge amount of people calling at the same time.
We then scan the whereabouts of our loved ones in the head, trying to remember where they would be at this time of the day. Ouf, they are all safe and sound and we can relax for one moment before zapping through the 10 news channels, in Arabic and English. Usually AL Arabia hits the jackpot and is the first to show live picture.. The zapping goes on to Euronews, CNN and other foreign speaking news channels so that we can begin to comprehend what has happened.
Lately, politicians or popular figures are the target. Yesterday the target was a car belonging to the US embassy in Lebanon. This news puts a gloom over my tea party. Now foreigners are at risk. Like during the civil war.
And so, the vision of car bombs exploding around us start to hunt me again. And of course the thought of leaving this nightmare hunts me again. And of course, the next day, we wake up, bring the kids to school, do our errands and nearly forget yesterday’s horrors.
It is called Collective Amnesia. And it is our only survival kit. For now.
