NGO's in town

You know things are wrong when just about every NGO in the world is in town. They all got their stickers on their cars, and flags on the hood.

So now we get to my car (that’s what this story is about). I have had a very nice car for the past 6 years. It’s easy, not too fancy, so no one will steal it so you can leave it unlocked. It has a pick-up, so you can transport dogs and Christmas trees and wet kids coming from the beach. My friends wonder how on Earth I bought such a ‘cheapo’ car, but I dind’t, it was a gift, and you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
Besides, I am very happy with my white king-cab pick-up.

However, both Sukleen (garbage disposal company) and the UN (in view of its usefulness) purchased a great number of them. So it seems these days I am associated with either Sokleen or the UN.

Like today. Today, as I was driving down Spears Street, I noticed someone two lanes away trying to get my attention.
At first I thought it was a regular guy getting my attention, so I ignored him. He was quite persistent though, so I started thinking that maybe it was somebody I did know, who tried to say hello. Then I did pay attention, but with a lane of cars in between, and each lane moving at different rates, it was kind of hard to get next to each other.

When finally we did get next to each other, I still did not recognize him. And then I understood what he was trying to tell me all the time.

“Do you need volunteers?”
“Volunteers? Volunteers for what?”
“Well, you know, UN or something. Since you work for the UN.”

Aha. It was the car that did it. With so many NGO’s in town, he assumed that a foreign face, in a UN-like vehicle, that must be somebody who can organize something,

“Ya habibi, I’m a housewife.”

Well, that did it for the rest of the conversation. He did wish me a nice day though. Quite friendly.

On another note, I went and got my meqaniue today (APK keuring in Dutch). That most be the most efficient and well-organized office. No, that must be the ONLY efficient and well-organized office in Lebanon