Don't give up, Nuheb na'ysh

Tunisia faces many problems, authorities are trying to tackle them; the progress is slow due to unconsciousness  and ignorance of citizens, non-compliance of standards as well as demotivation of various persons. Respect for the law and punishment for violators must be ensured, those concerned should learn that the police is not just a "paper tiger". Don't look away and simply close your door, pretend you don't see, don't hear - like those famous monkeys - if you don't want an elbow society. I know many are unhappy, the older ones remember a different Tunisia. Not rich, not so many, not so expensive, new cars on the road - reminds me of all those sudden house owners in the USA, in spite of their low income, until one day the bubble burst, the houses gone, many homeless, huge debts remaining. Yes, in the past folks seemed to be happier, big charming, really catching North African smiles common, respect, good manners normal, no extreme noise and black stinking clouds producing youngsters on motorbikes (often with one wheel in the air), no small kids constantly screaming and roaming the streets, knowing no respect, dropping their rubbish where ever they are (it hasn't stopped!), no teens/kids rowdily demonstrating their bad breeding, telling me right in front of my house to get lost, though they, sitting on the steps of the house next door (or standing on my pavement), actually live several streets away.      Environment protection laws are good , but people learnt they can ignore them and nothing will happen. Those who still got a job/are perhaps self-employed, get up fairly early in the morning and need their sleep; those who don't often ignore this. Going back in history, backwards Europeans learnt from advanced Oriental people ("Golden Age" in Spain e.g.) Can we now learn from Europe? The human body is designed to sleep when it's dark, thus at night. Night shifts should be reduced to a minimum, they are not good for your health - this is talking about adults! In most European countries children sleep at night, at set hours, why then don't children in North African countries need their sleep? Isn't the lack of sleep perhaps the reason why they are in my neighbourhood constantly running around like lunatics (bitten by a Tarantula?), always screaming, unable to concentrate on one thing, unless it's football? School holidays are too long, more than twice as long as in Europe (because of the heat? How then do they spend their days off?); are the kids that brilliant that they don't need much "studying", even after school hours homework is normal in Europe, not so much here, I'd say. It must be really taff to teach those children/teens, whose parents let them roam the streets day and night, believe they are untouchable, the streets belong to them (not the traffic). - Three weeks ago a car crashed into my house, did some damage, but no one got injured, thank heaven, in view of the "normal" situation here, up to 30 kids on the road, several usually on the steps right next door..... The female driver was under shock, shaking, helpful neighbours pushed her car to her house, a few minutes distance. Several days later she apologized and stated she'd meet all costs. Meanwhile she changed her mind, doesn't want to pay anything at all, even though we only asked for 220 TND, part of the actual costs. What is going on in her head? No consciousness of being in the wrong? The police will sort it out now. It is a minor case (nevertheless meant a lot of work and some stress for us), it makes me wonder, is this the new generation that I watch growing up in the neighbourhood? Thank heaven not all Tunisians are like that! A lot of folks are unhappy with inhabitants who came from the countryside, looking for easy money, buying expensive cars with the money they made by selling off their land, yet lacking the manners, chic, generosity, tolerance and respect one would expect to find among town people. Yes, it often came to my mind that several folks here look and act like Fellachen  (farm workers), little education, knowledge, poor manners and farm-like dress code. Do I sound arrogant? I am just very disappointed and so are many original town inhabitants (quite a few left). - Today I viewed a group of 6 young men (one could hear them from some distance, sounded like quarrelling of a large group), demonstrating lots of testerone and low I.Q., chasing with their Alsatian dog cats, even in neighbouring yards. This is fun for the brainless, those without dignity or basic civilised manners. I have a fair idea what will become of them, if no one stops them, young men like them are being returned from Germany "our new tourists" as a taxi driver joked. They are a disgrace to Tunisia and most certainly don't help to make Tunisia attractive for tourists again, in particular from Europe, where pets (mainly cats and dogs) are often treated like a family member, not like vermin! - I feel sorry for people whose houses are overlooking a place with two large garbage containers. They try to keep that place clean where uncivilised folks drop anything, including food leftovers, onto the ground - appears too much effort for them to actually make use of the containers!