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In Cairo, the Garbage Collector Knows Everything

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Re: In Cairo, the Garbage Collector Knows Everything

#51

Post by 616c »

vilhelm_s wrote: post #8

When I read this, my first thought was "wow, this must have been really hard to anonymize, if he wasn't careful to remove/change enough details people could figure out who the garbage man is". Well, not so much... > So of course Sayyid was aware that I was researching and writing about him. At the same time, he is not literate, so there are serious limitations on his understanding of something like a New Yorker story…

He didn't anonymize shit by giving that street. It is a very specific neighborhood despite Cairo being a huge city.

Re: In Cairo, the Garbage Collector Knows Everything

#52

Post by 616c »

kwindla wrote: post #33

Peter Hessler's books about contemporary China are super-interesting reading. He's a very low-key, but deeply informed cultural translator. In all his books, he focuses on the stories and lives of the people he meets and gets to know, first as a young Peace Corps volunteer, and then as a journalist living in the country for many years. If you're interested, maybe start with _Country Driving: A Journey from Farm to Fa…

I will give his China stuff a look bc this is the 2nd Egypt piece he has written that is miffed me. But I will try and keep an open mind.

Re: In Cairo, the Garbage Collector Knows Everything

#54

Post by wsc981 »

616c wrote: post #50

I guess I'll get in trouble for saying this again. He is compelling and be speaks Arabic blah blah blah, but I feel these articles are more about him than Sayyid, over which we haggle with him vicariously over Egyptians pounds, approximately seventeen to one US dollar now. I know that feeling, but I wouldn't even ironically brag about paying fifty cents over the other wealthy foreigner a month. I would saying somethi…

I feel you read a bit too much into all this. The guy is a journalist and his wife as well. I suspect they don't make much money from their job so they have to be a bit careful on how they spend it. And knowing they pay a bit more compared to some other Western guy in their apartment complex ... well, I feel most people would feel better about themselves as well given the circumstance. I feel it's just human nature. From his story it's clear it's hard to figure out the "proper" amount of pay, there are no clearly set rules.

I did find his writing compelling and added the book to my Amazon Wishlist.

In the past I visited Egypt once through a more adventurous travel agency. It was still an organised trip, but I was happy to see quite a bit of Egypt which included sleeping in the desert, sleeping in an oasis, have a small boat trip on the Nile, eat dinner with a Nubian family, visit the archeological museum and most important mosque in Cairo, as well as an important coptic church. And did see all the well known attractions such as the pyramids, valley of kings, Luxor, etc... It was fun and I'd love to visit it again in the future, but I feel it's currently probably too unsafe. Even back in 2005 when I visited there were military escorts with out travel group as we travelled to the south.

Re: In Cairo, the Garbage Collector Knows Everything

#55

Post by sdfjkl »

So I wasn't just paranoid when I used to shred all my papers at home before throwing them away.

Related, when I moved out, I sold/freecycled most of my stuff, then invited some people to take what they want from the leftovers and finally left the stuff nobody had wanted in a big box in the bin room downstairs. Minutes later I saw the building cleaners haul the entire box into a car.

Re: In Cairo, the Garbage Collector Knows Everything

#56

Post by LifeLiverTransp »

mc32 wrote: post #21
vilhelm_s wrote: post #8

When I read this, my first thought was "wow, this must have been really hard to anonymize, if he wasn't careful to remove/change enough details people could figure out who the garbage man is". Well, not so much... > So of course Sayyid was aware that I was researching and writing about him. At the same time, he is not literate, so there are serious limitations on his understanding of something like a New Yorker story…

Yeah, it’s a stretch to say using an alias makes it less real or using a ruckenfigur picture takes away from the story. If the law allows for witness protection via alias, I can’t see something less real or genuine. As someone else had pointed out this man may not realize or care about the consequences of the publicity but the author does have a duty to care and I think he betrayed that duty here.

Its one of betraying context. The garbage collector may see the interaction purely in a social, local context. While the author might as well put him up for the whole world to see. Which can come back to the garbage collector in good or unexpected ways, but also in bad ways. The local elite may feel embarassed about the existence of the garbage collector (they certainly do feel that way about Cairo) and put him away in jail, just for that embarassment- or as long as the story spotlight shines on this life, ban garbage collection (china effect) which makes life hard for the guy.

On the other hand- in a police state, somebody like this very likely works for the roots of the secret service. So shine your light on.

Re: In Cairo, the Garbage Collector Knows Everything

#57

Post by robocat »

cpeterso wrote: post #20

See also the "Elephant in Cairo" search algorithm: 1. Go to Africa. 2. Put an elephant in Cairo. 3. Start at the Cape of Good Hope. 4. Work northward in an orderly manner, traversing the continent alternately east and west, 5. During each traverse pass: * Catch each animal seen. * Compare each animal caught to a known elephant. * Stop when a match is detected. 6. If you are in Cairo, then there are no elephants in Af…

That algorithm literally has race condition faults.

It needs a movable memory fence that stretches from East to West.

Re: In Cairo, the Garbage Collector Knows Everything

#58

Post by Hasknewbie »

FYI as hinted at the top of the page, this is a recycled (duh) version of a much longer article published 5 years ago:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/13/tales-trash

It feels weird to see a journalist republishing the same content just like that, but my guess is he has his book to promote and not that many angles to introduce the topic.

Re: In Cairo, the Garbage Collector Knows Everything

#60

Post by segfaultbuserr »

woliveirajr wrote: post #4

I love how HN is so diverse and how many submissions' titles can be read in many ways. Tip: this article is about a human, real-person garbage collector, and garbage is the real, physical waste that people put inside bins.

And "Cairo" refers to the physical city, not the graphics library ;-)
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