Thursday, September 8, 2011

Public Urination or Sunbathing: Which One is Frowned Upon in Jerusalem?

We're driving down the street, and I mean on a BIG street, a main road.  Eric's driving so I have the luxury of looking out the window.  I'm looking and I see a little boy and a grown man standing at the side of the road, their car door open like it's perfectly normal to pull over at a major intersection.  And then I see it.

The little boy has his pants down around his ankles, bare bottom for all the world to see, and the man is helping him lean forward so the stream of urine coming out of the boy doesn't get on his shoes.  What I'm wondering is (A) Is this typical ? and (B) Why with SO many people around?

As for the sunbathing, I had to sneak it.  It is not allowed at the JC (Jerusalem Center) because the center is in a mostly Palestinian neighborhood, mostly Muslim, and the sight of my 44 year-old bare flesh will apparently start WWIII.  So I am sitting on our private patio outside of the apartment in a small section of sun that comes through the arbor, trying not to be seen by any of the neighbors or workers at the Center.  We're on a hill, so anyone seeing me is either leaning way over from the floor above, or has a telescope and deserves to be shocked by my naked flesh.

So, you guys decide which is worse.