RadioMan

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RadioMan

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Summer of 1988, Beirut was a war zone, and it has been for the past 13 years. Non-stop bombardments, artillery and air strikes, those were the background music we got accustomed to that "summer vacation" in Lebanon. Between the Civil war (20 something groups making their points heard), Israeli – Lebanese war, Israeli – Palestinian war, 100 causalities weekly, snipers on every roof top, car bombs around each block, there was really nothing much to do than sitting home and hoping we'll get electricity back so we can watch TV or take a hot shower. As bad as these images were, people came together and spend more time than ever in each others' company.

I remember spending much of the night at my grandma's since it was a safer area than ours. I was a kid then, but I remember, how people used to gather there, my family, my relatives, neighbors, friends, all in my place, every night. Each has story to tell about his day; something he/she witnessed, heard, or even predicted. There was also the famous bowl of cigarettes on the coffee table, all kind of brands and flavors right there for everyone. It was considered rude to show up and not throw in your pack in the bowl for everyone to share. Dinner was something to look forward to; it was like a Thanksgiving Day every day; the food, the preparation, 10s of cooks in the kitchen, guys taking naps, playing cards, anything to kill time.

  I also remember the radio: brown wooden box, with huge knobs and a golden needle, running on batteries and switched on most of the day. I remember memorizing every song that played throughout the day; there were not much new local releases at that time. Sometimes the music will be playing in the background where no one is paying attention , but on certain times in the day, right when that old intro music starts playing, everyone knew it was time for the News, or to be more accurate, Breaking News!. Everyone seemed to stop what they are doing and turn their complete attention on that "radioman". The radioman was the only person who seemed to know what was going on, the one who got the connections, the predictions and facts. Only the radioman could tell us what was going on across town, he even got sound bits. Everyone cared about the slightest news, nearby events or the next city events, and our radioman knew everything, he knew as we did that everything will affect us directly or indirectly. His words  guided our emotions, if he said there was a truce between a couple of groups, we would feel an easy and a bit safe to carry on with out daily life, if he said there was an intension from some military movement to escalade the situation, we knew bad days were about to come. On those days we turned to our family so comfort and safety, to god for faith and strength, but we all give our trust when it comes to the facts and news to our radioman. We never met him, I personally never knew how he looks like, but I know his voice, and as everyone else I considered him part of the family. Without the radioman we would never had known what was going on with friends in other areas and cities, with his voice the long nights could have gone darker. My uncle was abducted in 1982, his own parents, my grandparents, only heard about 3 days later; phones services were dead most the day. When the radioman announced that there were some movements by a local group to abduct young men who carried certain IDs and practice certain religion in specific areas, friend from other area started calling in to check on him, and that’s how they knew. The radio probably didn't save anyone's life then, but sure it made life a little better.

  Now in the year 2008, some facts still exist, and some memories managed to survive the years; my uncle is still missing, the civil war ended 18 years ago, the radioman's voice is now just a tale to tell, and people moved on and now busy with their daily hectic lives. I am not sure whether the saddest part in this is that people forgot the radioman and what he did, or simply that it takes a tragedy for a radioman to bring us together. I've seen the radioman's effect on many occasion later on, I saw it happening in NY 9/11, Madrid, Darfur, Rwanda, Spain, Bosnia...etc, and I am afraid to say that I starting to believe it is the second choice that brings sadness to this.