Yesterday, on my way to work, the middle-aged taxi driver initiated an explicit elections conversation with me. Making a passing comment about the suddenly increasing “vote for me” banners around town I was prompted to ask him whether he’d be voting for anyone:
“a3othoo billah!”
“leish?” (why?)
“Because all these guys are sons-of-a-bitches! They take our votes and when you call them they don’t answer or they’re on vacation or they’re sick or, or, or…la2 insa (no, forget about it), I’ll keep my vote to myself and he can go screw himself, sa7? (right?)”
“Sa7”
“Instead of voting for them so they can get us jobs, we end up voting for them to give them a job! The only time my vote is worth anything is when I get 50 lira for it”
After giving me his 30 second life story about being a Jordanian Christian of Palestinian decent, living in Madaba, he raised his hands to the heavens and said:
“I pray to God that King Abdullah cancels this whole Parliament and brings back netham il-3askari (the military system)!”
“leish?!” (why?!)
“Because what brother-of-a-whore in government would dare do anything then?”
looooooooooool @ “Instead of voting for them so they can get us jobs, we end up voting for them to give them a job! â€Â
True about giving them a job, hehehe. This is what I hear at my grandparents’ house around and after the elections. Everybody is hoping for a job, however right after elections, they all start regretting that they participated in securing a job for someone who does not deserve.
Anyways, if a job is the only reason for one to vote for a candidate, then, ya salaaaam.. ensa wad3 elbarlamaaan, hehehe 😀
So true… So logical… Not all the parts, most of it. And this is the normal Jordanian thinking…And I agree with the fact that most of candidates are concerned about there own self-interest.”
yes, taxi drivers are politically savvy that way.
You know what? I have to agree with him especially about declaring marshal law.
atleast he’s not delusional like some …
bambam: its your use of the ellipses that makes your comment art
Again I can see the wisdom in his opinion. I am so disappointed that I lack the courage of declaring this opinion in an article published in a daily newspaper. This will save the country a lot of money on salaries, cars, travels and all other useless expindatures by the useless MPs.
I always wondered what happened to guys in taxis……so guys get the political scoop and girls get the sexual advances
“I always wondered what happened to guys in taxis……so guys get the political scoop and girls get the sexual advances”
LOL. the best/funniest comment I have read so far! really made my day. 😀
I still do not understand why you guys are in favor of going back to the pre-1989 era. It’s obviously a step backwards, the system needs to be overhauled and fixed; not demolished!
Each day, I realize more and more that we are simply masochists. We prefer to be led, than to lead. We prefer to be silenced than to speak. And we prefer to take the path of least resistance instead of taking the long, hard road. If we didn’t allow the system to abuse us, we wouldn’t have reached to this point. However, the only logic I saw in the guys comments was about the “giving them jobs” part. I realize that most of the candidates are simply rubbish, but still, that’s only more reason for us to bring out better candidates. Certainly going back to a militarized country is not a solution; it’s a way out, but it’s not a solution.
I always wondered about elections and their effectiveness in Jordan. Everyone seems to vote for a family member or someone from their tribe running for office. What a waste of money. I say we cancel the parliament and ask every tribe to vote for one person to represent them (that would be the one who can offer more manasef than anyone else). This way, you can open up a bala6 or deewan for the representatives of various tribes, serve them black coffee, and get them busy socializing with each other. (or fighting with each other for that matter)
The money spent on what is supposed to be a democratic process should be invested in sending political science graduates to do their MA’s and Phd’s in England, get them back, and make THEM run for elections.
that’s my own sarcastic and ignorant view! 😛
Nas, that’s a rising serious, political trend and many people recently have been wishing the same. People are losing their/lost their trust in the government and MPs and the only option left is the army.
I’d even suggest the Jordanian Desert Forces (7aras el badiya), because if that happened, then similarly to the wise words of your taxi driver “what brother of a 66 whores in the government would dare do anything then?†really, who?
PS: Why is the number 66 always associated with that word? lol