The Bagdad Cafe

I went over to the coffee shop I freaquent yesterday afternoon, wehre all the local neigborhood intellectuals get to gether and discuss all the intellectual topics of the day (inteligenet du jour).

We've taken to calling it The Bagdad Cafe because it is owned by a couple from Saudi Arabia (dont know there names now that i think about it). The husband name Ahmed. I don't know the wife's name. We rarely see her. She has many religious duties, plus I think it might be hard for her to get around in her religious robes. Not sure.

But, he is alwayts there day and night, excerpt when he has to go run an errand, but he then just leaves the place to his friends (all the other men who hang out at the Bagdad Cafe.).

One thing I have noticed about the Arab people is that they are very polite. they do not socialize with us much , but they have a subtle taste for politness about not interfearing with our conversations and another thing, here it is,

They are very concerned with noise level. When you walk into the Bagdad Cafe they will be talking in a loud voice , but when you walk in they instantanously get quieter , as if to accomodate to the noise level they expect you to make yourself. In other words, they are polite about not increasing noise level with each added person in the room.

When you walk into an american restraunt everybody is talking real loud, and then you have to talk loud, and then be fore you know it , it just keeps getting louder and louder.

Anyway, yesterday my intellectul freinds and I were were talking about how Bush is evil and all the evil Christian things he is going to do to this contry, and we notice that the Arab people were upset about the same thing.

They looked over to us and said, "Bush is a a-hole. America is hated be cause of him. America will be in trouble. "

We all nodded in agreament. This was the first time the polite Arab people at Bagdad cafe had ever spoken to us, and I think we were all pleased.

I ventured to socialize a little bit too.

"Yes , we are in trouble, because Bush want s to make the whole world a totatlitarian police state. Did you see the tanks the other day? Thats just the beginning."

One of the Arab men nodded and said, "This is true. And we will not stand for it. Just the other night George Bushes gestopo came and knocked on the door of my friend Reza and took him a way just like that, just for being a Muslim. We will not stand for it. "

So I say, " Well you know what the grate writer Weesel said, that first they came for the guy down the street , than they came for my brother, then they took away my little dog away from me, and then they came and took me. I shoudl have known in the first place. "

They all looked at each other , and then one of them looked at me and said, "The words are true. So on the words themselves we can be in agreement."

My friend s and I nodded and smiled at the Arabs. We were all happy to be socializing and having agreement.

Then they went back to there conversation and we went back to ours.

But, think about that, Bush came and took away one of our neighbors right here in our own neighbor hood. It's getting closer and closer. We have reason to be scared.