Martoons

Hey martoons fan!

Talk about encroachment! And we thought public spaces were being eroded in Canada. In Cairo it’s getting ridiculous. For example, two years ago I visited Cairo and a lot of streets were narrowed down by energetic entrepreneurs setting up little parking businesses on the side of the road. Typically, there is one on each side with a narrow residual lane in the middle for actual, real moving traffic. It was a bit better on the wider streets.

But now, two years later, I noticed that the wider streets have expanded these parking businesses so that there is two lanes of parking on each side, with the one residual lane remaining. If you are a pedestrian it’s even more fun. Most sidewalks in Cairo are impassable for various reasons (see the cartoon). So that leaves you the middle lane to weave down.

An Egyptian friend told me most locals don’t like this development. But, hey, it’s life in Egypt. Who am I to complain? And actually I didn’t complain because in Cairo you literally have to expend ALL your mental energy navigating streets and sidewalks to (a) get somewhere, and (b) not get run over.

Cheers, Marty West, editor, clickmartoons.com