American Tourist
A-In 1970, nine years before the Islamic revolution, I was a student at Pahlavi University and lived in the most beautiful city in Iran, Shiraz. The tomb of the great Iranian poet Hafez, Hafeziyeh, was next to the university. It was a meeting place for all people: poets, writers, and lovers. People read his poems at the gravesite, believing that he could tell their fortune through his poetry. After 700 years, his book is a best-seller in the country; it is read more than the Quran.
I regularly visited Hafezieh during my first year of university. While on a school break, I went there with a friend who was a medical student. The inside of the garden was full of tourists. They were elderly tourists, all of whom seemed to be over 70 years old and foreign, primarily women, wearing shorts, and tops and with cameras hanging around their necks.
My friend grinned with ironic hatred while observing one of them. “They are looking for their happiness even to the point of death. She cannot walk, but she has come to travel and have fun. Fuck them all. They are drunk from drinking our blood”.
I watched them take photos and look around with excitement. My friend was genuinely angry. He believed they were having fun at the expense of the misery of others and that they mostly came for spying. It seemed to me that most of them were rich. Why did they not come when they were younger? What is the secret in this story?
B- In 1994, 24 years later, I was a writer and gave a presentation in London. A friend who worked in a Marks & Spencer department store told me that it would be closed to the public the next day. She explained that a sheik had privately reserved the entire store for three days for his wives to shop. They spent millions doing that every year, buying luxury items in bulk. They purchased everything: 200 eyeliners, 500 lipsticks, thousands of skin creams, and any clothes, bags, or shoes they wanted. My friend did not curse them; on the contrary, she was happy those rich women came, bought, and gave rewards and tips to the staff.
She did not ask herself, where does all this money come from, or how many poor women and children in the Middle East and Arab countries need food, shelter, and medicine? Nobody asks. They appreciate it. They come and are welcomed everywhere, each and every year.
C- The secret of the tourists’ story became clear to me years later. When I was 65 years old and in America, I sought medical insurance, particularly Medicare coverage. However, I couldn't get free health insurance because I had not worked enough in the United States for the government to extend it to me. It was available to those who had a 50-year employment history. I would have to pay $600 monthly for Part A and B Medicare. Standing in line at the application center, I heard senior citizens talking about their dreams. Most wanted to travel abroad. One of them asked me if ّIran was saved. I answered no. Soon after, I met many friends among the elderly in the Humana Center swimming pool, and everywhere else in which seniors congregate: hearing centers, vision centers, and the gym.
Now I know the answer to my question. Why didn't they come when they were younger? The answer- because it took years for them to have the money for the trip.
1- Those ladies who came to my country were not wealthy at all.
They were middle class and had worked hard for at least 50 years.
2- People work here for a lifetime and save, cent by cent until they retire. Then, in their old age, they can achieve their dream of traveling around the world or visiting other countries.
3- They did not trample anyone's rights. Like us, they had a hard life. They were not spying. They could not buy a hundred lipsticks or a hundred bags. They could not rent an entire restaurant or book a shopping center.
4- Having blue eyes and blonde hair, or a particular fashion style, doesn’t mean someone has had an extraordinary life of comfort.
5 Rather, those who can privately take over a shopping center certainly have had a luxurious life, and usually haven’t worked for a single day unlike most of us.
These biased thoughts belong to the bygone era of the Shah, during which we were allowed a large degree of individuality. There was no inkling then of an Islamic republic. Neither the hijab nor religious laws were mandatory. We lived then in the time of a modern king, Yes, stupidity does not have border-like brutality.
Source: Substack