I actually like going to the nearby self-service laundry. In the times there I have met quite a diverse amount of people, talked to several and enjoyed staring at the ever turning machines with a slightly dizzy sense of joy.
Today was no difference.
The laundry also seems a place where the Rabbis and their wives have no say in who is allowed to wash. It does not seem to matter who you are as long as you bring three coins of five shekel.
Today was no difference.
When I arrived two of the three machines were running and one was empty. An old, seemingly fragile woman was there, and I asked her if she was finished, if I could use the machine (in Hebrew), she said yes. I filled the machine. And sat. She was about to go and had a lot of things. I asked her in English if she wanted some help carrying it up the stairs. She started yelling and shouting in Hebrew that this was Eretz Israel, that she does not want to hear English, I did not understand the rest. It was frightening. I started crying when she left, and was really shaken. She came down on me like a harpy. The shop owner next door said she was crazy. A man came and saw his bag was gone, he was Ethiopian, I gave him one of mine, he said thank you, emptied his machine and left. A woman from Sri Lanka came and waited with me. The old woman came back and in perfect British English started shouting again. She hated the English. Was I English. No. I said I just wanted to help you, sorry. She does not want my fucking help. Was I German. Yes. Was I Jewish. No. See, I had no idea what's going on, she would not need my help. She would not want it. Where was I born. Dresden. She knew someone, very nice, hard working man from there. So was I an Ossi. I said I was from Dresden which is in the East of Germany. Was I an Ossi. The GDR was still in existence when I was born. I had no idea about the Jewish people, I should go back to the Ossis to prevent them from turning Nazis. She would not want help. I was crying the whole time. The woman from Sri Lanka stood nearby and said nothing. The old woman left. I asked the woman from Sri Lanka if she had a tissue. She had not. She asked what happened. I told her I asked the old woman if she needed or wanted help and she started yelling at me. The woman from Sri Lanka said she was here for three weeks now to be a care giver as so many other women and men from Sri Lanka and the Philippines. I wished her the best and hoped she met people who treat her respectfully.
I learn how these things work and experience them as the "other" which I may not have experienced before in Germany, where my white skin seems to "prevent" me from discrimination. Now that I come to think of it, it is a bit ironic that some time in the summer this man on the train in Berlin said they forgot to put me on the transport to the gas chambers in Auschwitz.
The Laundry
déja vus
i am in a very bad mood. very bad.
fuck powerpoint. like really very much the way it hates to be fucked. and then multiply your fucking efforts by thousand. fuck again. see if it whines. if it does, again. only not if powerpoint has a masochistic tendency. then just leave it rotting away with its need to be fucked really hard and eat icescream or make love with keynote.
okay, good.
well, fuck the thickness of chains.
fuck bad mooded people.
fuck pigeons.
fuck minions who seemingly left one electronic device on while going away that beeps every five seconds. then realize this minion is yourself and find that your fucking phone searches its base which it can't have because it's not connected to the fucking landline.
very bad.
told you so.
untolerable
it's the semi-finals. my neighbourhood, i am sitting here, trying to think, catching the sounds from the downstairs pub that is frequented by nationalist people:
minute 22: they seriously are yelling "die deutschen sind wieder da" (the germans are back) and even worse ... the h-word that went with hitler is chanted.
bloody hell, where do i live ...
minute 37: "hurensohn" (son of a bitch) with the free kick for turkey.
minute 41: emo-löw dissapears for a little while.
minute 44: rolfes is back (after this cut was suturated): "so sehen sieger aus. la la la la la." (winners look like this)
halftime: barbecue and polonnaise supplemented by "SO gehn die DEUTSCHEN, die DEUTSCHEN, die gehn so" (this is how germans walk) and bangers.
minute 46: "deutschland, deutschland, deutschland ist die macht" (germany is the power/force/strength)
minute 50: "hurensohn hurensohn hu hu hu hurensohn"
minute 51: "deutschland deutschland über alles" (germany over everything)
"die leitungen aus basel sind unterbrochen. wir bitten um etwas geduld" (no picture on the screen) -> "deutschland! deutschland! deutschland!"
"ein deutscher musst du sein!" (you have to be a german)
"es gibt einen deutschen meister. deutschland! deutschland! ist die macht!" (there is a german master/champion)
still no picture on the screen. "bildausfall" (no picture) (how hilarious)
just sound.
yelling downstairs.
fireworks.
still no picture (time: 22:06)
picture is there again at 22:07 at least 3 minutes none.
minute 66: "steht auf, wenn ihr deutsche seid ... bleibt stehn, wenn ihr türken hasst." (stand up germans. stand when you hate turks. - can't see inside the pub. maybe they're still standing)
minute 71: bangers
minute 72: "hurensöhne" (sons of bitches) (very creative ...)
22:21 again no picture
"oh no " ... "deutschland, deutschland ist die macht"
22:22 picture
minute 78: second goal germany. bangers. fireworks. yells.
"wir deutschen sind wieder da" (we germans are back)
minute 81: can't understand what they're chanting
minute 84: marching lock-steps "so gehn die deutschen, die deutschen, die gehn so"
minute 85: second goal turkey "hurensohn hurensohn hu hu hu hurensohn"
minute 86: some person ran on the field.
minute 89: third goal germany. yells, fireworks
"deutschland deutschland deutschland"
"deutschland deutschland deutschland ist die macht"
minute 91: "steht auf, wenn ihr deutsche seid"
"hu hu hu hurensohn"
minute 93: fireworks, bangers.
"finale!" ...
"deutschland deutschland ist die macht"
"wir zeigen der welt, wer wir sind" (we show the world who we are)
"raus ihr säcke" "heil heil heil" (piss off assholes)
"deutschland deutschland ist die macht"
they form a circle: very calm and hooded: "so feiern die türken" (this is how the turks celebrate) and yelling, arms up "so feiern die deutschen" (this is how the germans celebrate)
polonnaise on the street to the other pub "so sehn sieger aus" fraternizing with other public viewing crowd (?) back: "so gehn die deutschen, die deutschen, die gehn so"
"ordentlich hintereinander" (walk orderly) through the megaphone
"lasst uns unsere fahne hissen, unserm gegner vor die füße pissen. zeigt ihm, zeigt ihm, wer wir sind!" (let's fly our flag, let's piss in front of our combatants' feet. show them who we are)
"kreuzberg ist scheiße."
"que sera, die deutschen sind wieder da, besoffen wie jedes jahr" (we germans are back again, pissed as every year)
chor chants: "sieg. sieg sieg ist mein name. sieg!" (victory is my name) woman instantly afterwards: "heil! (pause) sollt ihr nach hause kommen!" (heil (pause) you should be on your way home)
rhythmic fireworks, with every one: "heil"
"ich liebe deutsche-land"
...................
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