A Cultural Void

I could regale you with plenty of sad stories.  There are too many sad stories here. And, saddest is what I perceive as an insidious and acceptable level of violence and misfortune.  For countries that have endured decades of war, epidemics and natural disasters, where death and illness prevail, how can one be anything but hardened?

Walking to work this week I noticed a crowd gathering on the side of the road.  Curiosity got the better of me and I went to take a look.   A middle-aged man and woman were fighting, flailing at one another and shouting.  It wasn’t quite clear who was winning, if anyone.  They kept a grasp on one another, pulling back and forth while the crowds laughed and jeered.

They were both dirty, their clothes disheveled and torn. 

The crowd, mostly young people, laughing, saw this as their morning entertainment.   The woman had a straw shopping bag, with bits of cloth stuffed inside.  The man, trying to save his pride, was attempting to take this away from her, the only thing she had.  I was so saddened to see the sheer and utter desperation of this couple, particularly the look on the woman’s face, and more so, the depravity of the onlookers.

And, it’s not an uncommon occurrence.  I’ve experienced this before in Mozambique and in East Africa.  Crowds seem to take joy in the misfortune of others.  Someone stumbles, dropping their meager wares, and bystanders laugh.  Chastising and humiliation is a public sport.  In a place that is filled with painful history and seemingly insurmountable challenges, I find this disturbing and confusing.  The lack of civility saddens and frightens me.  I wonder if it is a result of all that has come before, a coping mechanism, or a requirement for future difficulties.

Years ago I was in the lobby of a movie theater, by myself.  Inadvertently, I bumped into a teenage girl, standing in a pack with her friends.  These were tough looking kids wearing spiked  neck collars and displaying multiple tattoos and facial piercings.  I apologized but not quickly enough.  She threw out a stream of obscenities and taunts.  I don’t know that I ever felt such baseness from a person.  Yet, it left me feeling so alone, so apart from the human race. 

I wanted to intervene in that roadside fight, interrupt the cruelty.  I considered my options.  Sadly, I crossed to the other side of the road and continued on to the hospital.