Emad Barsoum writes: Man, Dog, and Hyaena
My friend called me few days ago, with a loud questioning tone asking me, are you a fortune teller? I smiled in a sarcastic way and replied, of course not, but why? He followed by another question, do you remember your article few weeks ago when you expressed your worries, when life would start to go back to its normal pattern after the lock-down, about how some business owners and entrepreneurs would take the advantage of the pandemic to implement new salary and pay structures, of course negatively, claiming losses due to Covid-19? I replied immediately with affirmation. Then he added, this is happening to me and other people that I know, as if you have seen what is coming, and now we have to either accept or to be sent home, what a humiliation, he said it desolately. Indeed I said, then continued; When a society lacks coherence in social responsibility, when few business people emerge to the surface with no sense of social responsibility, no nationalism, ignoring the fact that their role in economic development and stability is no less important than the role of government agencies and even lawmakers, then you may witness the end to humanity and dignity. It is no different to many small and medium service providers, who have increased their prices by an average of twenty five percent, trying to compensate losses from the shutdown, overlooking two major facts, first, the government support and aid they have received, and second, their clients who are returning from a period with very low income or even no income, but again they are practicing the behavior of the war profiteers. Although, contrary to what most people thought, that there will be very slow start to business after the resumption of economic and commercial activities, many sectors have witnessed unexpected sales volumes even higher than numbers realized during the same period of the last year. The actual business activities had defied many experts’ theories, simply because when some economists and analysists express their ideas, they always incline towards, either ignoring or being ignorant about the very basics of human nature, to love and embrace life. What happened after a long shutdown and the deprivation of the many simple things in life that create satisfaction and happiness to humans, we went out with the aspiration to recompense what we have been deprived from, and by going shopping, acquiring new objects, appliances, clothes and of course new vehicles, definitely leads us to feel alive again, and that life as we know it is still existing and going on. Sadly, as we go on trying to enjoy life again and being alive again, there on the sides of the road are some hyaenas, waiting to prey on us, steel the happiness, forgetting that if they would profit from us now then in the future they would not make any profit because they have already took away all what we have. As I was talking to my friend and expressing my worries, I remembered, with much sorrow, my loyal dog whom I have just bid farewell a few good days ago, after twelve years of great companionship, and unconditional love, and I must admit that raising a dog is not only about having fun, or enjoying the loyalty of such a wonderful creature, but I realized that dogs teach us how to be become more humans, when we care about them we learn how to care most about human beings, how we should be thoughtful for the benefit of all, and how we should practice in reality social coherence.
