ZIAD IN GAZA

 Ahmad’s friend sees two guys he met recently after they evacuated to his area. I discovered later that one of them comes from a very wealthy family. They owned a building that was levelled to the ground.

They are laughing. The guy tells us the story: “So, all I have left – I mean had – were two pairs of trousers, two T-shirts, three pairs of underwear and three pairs of socks. I woke up this morning and could not find my clothes. I washed them last night and hung them out to dry. This morning, they were gone. After hours of searching, we reached the market, and I found out that someone had stolen my clothes and was selling them.”

I told him: “Well, that is good, you got your clothes back.”

“No, I did not,” he said, laughing. “The thief was a woman. So, when I wanted to go talk to her, my father stopped me, and he told me that this woman might be in a dire need to steal clothes and sell them. So we agreed to do something I never thought in my life I would do. I decided to buy my clothes back.”

The other guy was laughing so hard I thought he would have a heart attack.

“But guess what?” he says. “By the time we reached her, another man had bought most of the stuff. But I was able to buy something.”

By now, the other guy was literally on the ground laughing.

“I bought back my boxers. My used, worn boxer briefs. For twice their original price.”