Last night, I was lying down on my couch, reading Iran news. As always, another young boy was killed in prison. Javad Roohi. He was sentenced to death “three” times months ago, and lots of people tried to stop that. They succeeded, but the regime finally killed the boy in prison after torture.
Can you imagine the burning hell you feel inside your heart when you read such stuff? Some people say, “Do not read the news! You are not in Iran anymore! You have one life, enjoy it! You can not change the world! The collective consciousness is not ready yet!”
Easy to say. I still am not convinced, although lots of my colleagues here in Germany tell me so. My big argument is that who will take the first steps if everyone ignores such stuff?! I have one life, yes! But do I want to collect money, work, and go on vacation my whole life and be satisfied? Oh, no, boy! I am not that kind of person. And you know what? How on earth can someone travel to Africa or the Middle East for “vacation”, while they are suffering so much? We can at least stop having fun out of other people’s misery, can’t we? We can have our vacations around, especially if we want to come back from the Middle East and complain: “The culture shock was huge! I did not like the way street sellers were following me to buy something from them! My privacy was bruised!”. Man, do not go somewhere where you can not handle their normal way of living. Just don’t.
Anyhow, while I was reading the news, I heard very loud noises outside. Some men were running up the apartment stairs, talking into their walkie-talkies. I went to my balcony and saw a huge fire truck. I could hear men trying to enter the flat above me.
Well, I was frightened, and my heart was pumping my soul out! It seems that something like this (fire trucks, police cars, or ambulances running to a situation) is very normal in Germany. In Iran, “IF” you see a police car or fire truck, you are actually done. Bye bye! Why? Because they only show up if there is an extreme disaster. If you see firefighters in your flat, you just know that the whole flat is going to explode in 5 minutes! If you see a police car, they either come to arrest you (for not wearing a hijab, for participating at a party with alcohol involved, or for cursing the government and Islamic dictatorship), or there is a huge fight or shooting or what not.
When I somehow found out some smoke alarms had signaled them, I just wanted to open my flat door, stare at their eyes, and say, “Just for a false smoke alarm?! Really guys?”
Culture shock is killing me. I know “safety first”! We actually know this is a basic human right to live in a safe world. But it is hard to process the difference when you have lived in a dictatorship for decades. You just want balance. You want Persians to be more safe and Germans to be more easygoing! Just be more relaxed when you are reacting to some false fire alarms, hah? Maybe a Persian girl downstairs is reading Iran’s news 😐