Conversations With My Barber
Some days you realise you take your freedoms for granted. These days those reminders come from places like communist China or Putinist Russia during election time, or North Korea all the time, but occasionally you're reminded that there are some countries that continue to be very uncomfortable for personal liberty without reaching a lot fo headlines like Iran.
My local barber says he is Persian. I asked him about how it is that he identifies himself in that manner.
"Aren't you Iranian, in modern parlance?" I asked.
"But I feel like I'm Persian. Being Persian makes more sense to me than what is going on there today in the country that cals itself Iran."
I tried to dig deeper into the sentiment, trying to catch the drift of his defiance. There wasn't much to it - he basically disagreed with the theocracy that has been in place since the Revolution. Otherwise, he likes customising Japanese cars and driving really fast. He likes middle eastern cuisine and thinks Shakira is still hot. Things the Revolutionary Council in Tehran would not like.
I remember the damn Revolution taking place on TV no less (unlike the song about revolutions not taking place on TV) but my barber is way too young for that experience. To him, the Revolution is somewhere in the deep mists of history where dinosaurs lurk with Don Bradman.
I asked him if he remembered anything about the time a young woman by the name Neda Agha-Soltan was shot in the chest by the paramilitary during protests. He did not recall the incident, but he said he hated all of that civil unrest and going-on in Iran. Being Persian allowed him to disown all of it. I guess that's defiance enough to be called cultural.
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