Tahrir Twitpic

John got this from a Twitter stream...

The patience and civility of these demonstrators is impressive.  I'm sure there are individual exceptions, but by and large they have been a huge credit to the image of their country.

I heard an Egyptian woman interviewed yesterday afternoon refer to the young protesters as The Playstation Generation, referring to the global preoccupation of young people with games, cell phones, social media and the Internet. Citing an example of a girl who said she was "starving," the woman pointed to the girl's cell phone and nice shoes, asking her if she had had breakfast. When the girl said she had, the woman said "You don't know what it's like to be starving. You and your generation already have more than we did when we were growing up," or words to that effect.

She reminded me of many adults I have heard over the years with stories of hardship, walking barefoot to school through the snow and all that. Those who have overcome adversity in every generation have that attitude in common. And fearful that what little they have achieved may be snatched away by changes in the status quo, their first reaction to social and political changes is to respond negatively. As the glass gets a bit of water, these are the people who see it filling to the top. Look, it's already half full, they say. Why take a chance on spilling any of it?

But the next generation has a bigger glass. And they don't just want water. They have tasted colas, wine and fresh-squeezed juice. And water no longer comes from the tap anyhow. it comes filtered, purified and packaged in disposable bottles.  And guess what? That's no longer something in the distant future. We have it already. And we have vision. And hopes for a different and better future. When Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman said to Christiane Amanpour yesterday "we will ask them to go home. And we will ask their parents to ask them to come home" he revealed how far away from reality he and his generation lives.  He and those around him would be mystified by the response of Mona Eltahawy  --  Wait, wait: just seeing clip #Soliman & #Amanpour: "We will ask their parents to tell them (protesters) to go home." R u fucking kidding me?