Thread by @hanihassan26

🧵 What does it mean to live in #Lebanon these days?
1. Primarily, living in Lebanon means the thuggish regime has not yet killed you (through direct assassination, wilful incompetence, or just pure criminal negligence).
1/11

2. It means living hour-to-hour, or day-to-day if fortunate.
3. It means waking up with the following thoughts being your first of the day:
Do we have electricity?
Hot water?
Can I/ should I run the washing machine?
Do I have enough gas in the car in case of emergency?
2/11

& if that emergency involves getting medicines, will I be able to find the meds?
What if I go queue for gas & then a shootout happens at the station?
Did I get enough bread the other day? Should I try to get some today?
Do I have enough gas to do so?
3/11

Do we have electricity for me to iron my clothes so as to go out?
Oh & I forgot to check: do we have enough water for the shower? ...

& that's just the morning thoughts. Which then get a tap on the shoulder that says: "mind if I put you aside, I really need to work, sorry".
4/11

4. It also means trying to figure out whether the stench that assails you when out on the balcony is the garbage piling up nearby, or just the deathly pollution, or the scent of burning tyres from a road blockade down the road.
5/11

5. Living in Lebanon also means constantly reminding yourself that you are alive, that you have stuff to do, responsibilities & tasks & duties that will not wait for you to muster the will & energy to do them.
6/11

6. It also means melancholy as you struggle to maintain the joy with the things you have always loved doing.
7. It means a daily dealing with injustice, a daily staring down the barrel of impunity, a constant navigation of a maze built around rampant criminality.
7/11

8. It means an ongoing debate with yourself on why it is that you live & continue to live in Lebanon, & that involves a daily reminder that Lebanon is not simply a haphazardly failed state, but a slain & robbed state, both thief & slayer very much known.
8/11

9. Living in Lebanon means living against the odds & betting against the house.
10. It means you know it won't get much better any time soon, & constantly hoping that it will get better some time soon.
9/11

11. Living in Lebanon these days means you thirst for vengeance, you yearn for the destruction of the ruling thugs & criminals, the utter demise of the militio-religio-political consortium of vile thugs.
10/11

It basically means you stay around, despite it all, for fear of missing out if & when the day arrives, for fear of missing out on being a small & tiny part in their undoing.

12. Living in Lebanon these days essentially means staying alive to celebrate their downfall, inevitably.