Tuesday, 29 March 2016

Ross... and Hazards of Our Civilization...



Ross was living in a basement apartment which opened to the garden... it did not feel like a basement because of the walk out to the garden... and was very sunny and bright from the sunlight... He loved it... I loved “his” garden too...
But the landlady passed away... she was in her late 80s... and the family decided to sell the house...
Ross had to look for a new place to live...
His searches for a similar setting did not produce results... and he went into an apartment on the 11th floor near the lake and consoled himself that he had a beautiful view to the lake to the south and the city to his north...
I knew that he was not as happy with his place as he was before! He became more an outdoor person than he was before... He just visited his apartment for a nap or a night sleep... and Darted out again in the morning for espresso and other things...
He told me once that the elevator makes him claustrophobic...So he began taking the stairs to climb to the 11th... But the stairs were designed for emergencies and they were like climbing in a narrow tube... That did not help too...
After few months... maybe 6 or 7... he decided to look for another basement-opening-to-the-backyard-garden place...
It took a month, a bit more, but he found one... with the help of friends and ladies at the school...
...And once he went back to the garden-basement living he admitted that he hated the high rise... 
It was nice to see him happy again...and as mischievous as ever !


***

Blaze devours UAE residential towers  

Fire engulfs UAE residential towers
Looking at the photos of the huge fire that engulfed the residential towers in the United Arab Emirates... I remembered Ross and his adventure with high-rise apartment living for few months...
He Hated the experience... He was claustrophobic in the elevators... in the stairwells... and in the apartment he was afraid that fire or another emergency will  cause trouble... But despite his misgivings... He shared the apartment with a young homeless student whom he knew from years before... He could not imagine himself living comfortably... and leaving the student homeless on the street... 
That was Ross...
He hated to share the elevator with others... specially young and rowdy people... and they were quite a few of them in the building...

Two Emirati officials as a fire spreads up the side of the watch a high-rise building in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, early Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Ross always was aware the hazards of modern civilization... The fires in the highrises and carcinogenic elements in food and on the streets with the fumes of the cars... He could not tolerate the exhaust and the smell of the fuel... 
Modern living has its comforts... but made people sick too...
They even got trapped in hirerise fires...
Rose wanted to live in a basement-garden dwelling... and he loved it... It was cheaper and not pretentious... He did not want to show off... He even gave his car away for a $1... and liver happily ever after... 
*** 
"People change, Greeks don't."...

  Reads the poster... and I find it not funny and a bit offensive...
If it was referring to Muslims... or Jews or blacks or other "minorities" people would have noticed... There would have been protests... demonstrations... riots... 
People are too "politically correct" when it comes to minorities with some muscle... But Greeks like Christians are freebies for all... 
It never amazes me... and I wonder why people abuse others and find it funny too...
I agree "people change...,"but why Greeks do not...? Are they out of this world...? Are not they people too...?
I guess that's part of the hazards of modern civilization too...

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