A Fear of Yesteryear

Have you ever seen a movie called, “The Shawshank Redemption”? It’s a classic from 1994 about a man who is sent to jail after being convicted for the murder of his wife. I admit the subject of this film is a little bit darker than, say, “The Wizard of Oz”, but it’s still a good movie nonetheless. I haven’t seen the movie for a couple of years now, but a few days ago I was remembering a particular scene from it. The scene came to my mind because I think that my feelings currently parallel those of the character in the scene. In this scene one of the characters, named Brooks Hatlen, receives early parole from his prison sentence. Brooks had spent the majority of his adult life in prison and so the thought of being released from it scared him. He had grown so used to the prison culture. It became his way of life. He didn’t know how to function in the world outside the walls of the prison.

So how do Brooks’ feelings correspond to mine? Well, as I near the end of my time here in Egypt I have begun thinking back to how different Canada is from Egypt. I’ve grown so used to the friendly, laid-back culture of Egypt that I’m sort of scared to return to the mile-a-minute stressed out culture of Canada. As I was trying to fall asleep last week, I envisioned myself returning to Canada. The first thing I did after getting picked up from the airport was to purchase a Slurpee from 7-11. Since I had just gotten back to Canada, I didn’t have any Canadian cash on me... so I pulled out my debit card and proceeded to pay for my Slurpee with it.

Just then, the man in line behind me burst out, “You’re going to pay for that with a credit card!? We’re going to be waiting in line all day just so you can buy a Slurpee with your freaking credit card!?”

Looking back, had I not been so startled I probably would have pointed out that it was a debit card, not a credit card. In reality, though, (the reality of my daydream, that is) I was so stunned by the rudeness of this man that I stood there speechless. How is it that only twenty-four hours prior I was in a culture with friendly, laid-back people, and now I was in a culture where people only make eye contact if they’re glaring at you as they hurriedly rush by?

I took a big gulp of my Slurpee, looked at the man and said, “It’s good to be home.” I was promptly greeted with a throbbing ‘brain-freeze’ from the Slurpee.

Of course, the daydream wasn’t without hope. I went on to imagine that an acquaintance of mine entered the store as I was about to leave and loudly welcomed me back to Canada. The grumpy man listened to our conversation as he paid for his food. I told briefly of my time in Egypt and what the culture there was like. As the grumpy man walked towards the door he stopped by us and apologized for being so impatient with me. He said he didn’t realize my circumstances and had no right to react the way he did. I thanked him for apologizing and we both left the store.

So what’s the moral of the story? Grab change from the car before going to buy a Slurpee. I’m sure this daydream was exaggerated (although I have had similar incidences while purchasing a Slurpee), but the truth is I am sort of reluctant to going back to a civilization that is so ordered and organized. I guess it’ll just take some getting used to, just like Egypt did. Does McDonald’s do home delivery in Canada yet?