Monday, October 03, 2011

The spec wearers of Cairo...


I have been told by a friend that i HAVE to write this as a blog entry since seemingly my logic isn’t obvious to everyone....

I walked into a shop yesterday and asked, in Arabic, the price of something. He looked very confused and i laughed and said i know you expected English and chatted away in English  for a bit with him. My friend was a little confused- “how did you know he spoke English”? My answer, “Well... it’s obvious isn’t it? He was wearing glasses......”

Ok- there were a few other telltale signs. His clothes, his manner, the way he was following the conversation not trying to butt into what we were saying.... but yes... my gut instinct was because of the specs.

I am probably very wrong statistically.... but it seems to me that the majority of spectacle wearers in Cairo speak English. Talk about stereotypes eh?! Yes I am guilty of it.

 I can only suppose I think this from my experience’s so far and have never before realised that is what I have always assumed!

My only reasoning for it goes like this:

Glasses are expensive to buy = therefore the wearer and or his/her family has money = therefore have given him/her a good education =and that always includes another language =and that language is usually English.

So, in my logic (which of course is often found to be faulty) if you are in Cairo, and need to speak English for some reason... ask the guy in glasses........!

1 comment:

Habiba Dance said...

So here's some lighthearted alternative logic that occurs to me. I've studying more Arabic recently and thinking that the Arabic print in my study books is often so teeny and hard to make out that my eyesight just isn't good enough. It's so bad, I was even thinking of getting a magnifying glass or something to take with me to class. Maybe if Arabs who learn English have a similar problem, with all those stupid Latin letters that all look the same as each other (b, p and d anyone?), they might also think of investing in glasses?

xx