Ouled Taima, Morocco
This question has been asked many times these days. Many Moroccan citizens are eager to poke their noses into what happens to their old colonizers France and Spain. They never get bored from quarrelling over the issue of French elections or the Spanish football matches. What makes the situation worse is that none of the debaters, if there has been any debate so far, were able to define and determine at what each candidate is aiming in his electoral program, and none of them could specify what a football club is based on.
A group of smokers and coffee drinkers sitting crossed-legged was in a quarrel-like discussion. Their ideas were two opposite views. The first was for the newly elected politician Emmanuel Macron as he seemed to feel no harm in coexisting with the Arabs and Muslims. His young facial appearance and elegant look may have gained some support from the immigrants. Also, his getting spliced with an approximately sixty year old lady won the heart of many supporters and made them stand by his side. Contrariwise, a few smoking addicted young guys with strange haircuts and weird lines of slash like beards expressed their views in a tone of hate and abhorrence against all the Arabs and Muslims.
Their perspective went in the opposite direction from the first. They urged themselves, even heartedly, to support the short haired and ferocious looking lawyer Marie Le Pen.
To my dismay, the quarrel went on and coincided with a few passages of Coelho’s deep words about a person’s future and destiny. It seemed as if Coelho was there sipping his coffee with his usual glasses and frequent smile. I had a glance at one of the passersby who was actually a beggar. He unhesitatingly directed towards the so-called debaters and showed the usual reply ‘Lah ishal’. The poor man, as he appeared, looked in despair and started his heavy steps, his empty palm asking for some coins. I could guess the answer of one of them before he uttered back. One of the debaters thought at last to warm the beggar’s heart with a single dirham. He confessed that he gave money to prove his support for Macron. I thought then of something wrong with Moroccans dealing with French issues. The group called it a day, and all of the debaters begged each other’s pardon. One of them added: ‘’I support Macron!” They dispersed with large smiles on their faces.
Next to me was a man with his small son. I heard him telling him about the Spanish league. The boy was in rupture to sip his coffee and smell the first smoke of cigarettes beside. The father himself took one cigarette and lit it proudly puffing a long stream of smoke in the air. That was enough for me to start my preparation to leave. I drank some water and paid the waiter. Suddenly, I heard the father sitting next to me asking for the results of the Spanish league. The loss of his favorite team changed his mood and made him dead like a corpse on the chair.
I couldn’t believe how such interest in others’ stuff like elections or football could change our frames of minds in such a way. We tend to quarrel over elections that we know nothing about. Also, we keep alert to know the recent results of football clubs of a country that we know nothing about. On the contrary, we keep ignorant about the hardships and serious problems of our country that we know many things about.
Thumbs up !!!!