Back in 2002 I was still a freshman and I used to park my car for around 3le in one of Cairo’s most congested places, this included parking my car and later on retrieving it for me, a complete valet service with a smile, by 2006 the parking fee ranged between 5 and 7 depending on how busy the guy was and usually I had to go find my car and find a way to pull out of the parking spot myself, still this 5-7le got me a parking spot that would have otherwise been impossible to find. These days, even if I park in an empty street, I end up paying 3le, even if I’m the only person parked in the entire street.
Last weekend I was parking behind Nile Towers, the place was more or less deserted as most people were spending the weekend out of Cairo, however as I parked, I heard that “khosh ya basha, aywa kedah alah yenawar”, looking around I realized that a 10 years old kid was saying that, standing among a bunch of his friends, I completely ignored him, however later as I was leaving that parking spot, he stood there waiting to collect the parking fee, to this second I have no idea what is he charging me for, he didn’t assist me in parking my car, didn’t wash my car and the street I’m parked in has loads of empty spots, the only thing he did was yelling a couple of meaningless phrases anyway I decided to pay him 3le since I had the change laying there in my car, surprisingly he objected stating that I should pay him “5le ya basha”, I told him hoa kedah, and as I left the parking spot he banged on the trunk of my car. For a second there I felt like I should park and beat the hell out of him, just before realizing the place I’m in and the current state of security in Cairo. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind paying if someone actually helped with parking my car, or even cleaned it for me, However I definitely can’t accept paying for someone yelling at me while parking my car.
Surprisingly this story isn’t that unique or new, this is not even the first time it happens to me, there isn’t a single place in mohandeseen/zamalek you can park in without someone popping out and charging you for parking your own car, the ominous calls “khosh ya basha, aywa ya basha, 7adanha shewaia keda” can be heard everywhere in the streets. It’s even worse than begging, since if you don’t pay your car would be actually at risk. After all the last thing you want is going back to your car to find your tires slashed. A couple of years ago, while parking somewhere in nasr city that happened to me, I objecting to paying the guy and he ended up saying “up to you” in that weird voice, returning 5 minutes later to my car, I found a huge nail coming out of my brand new tire. Of course you can fight with the guy, beat him up even, problem is how many times can you do this, would you do it every day, everywhere you park on every single outing you go on ? not going out at all is easier I think since you won’t have fun anyway.
Again I don’t mind paying someone who’d assist me parking my car, problem is they don’t help, they are just a bunch of opportunistic thugs who sell you the right to park in publically owned street, it actually became acceptable to pay 3le to a guy standing there in the middle of an empty street as you parked your car, even weirder, last summer as I parked in the middle of makeshift parking in the middle of the desert near platform in front of marina, a guy suddenly materialized and he wanted to charge me 5le for parking, I re-parked my car and asked him to let me work with him because he is definitely making more money than I do at work, after all I actually have to work to earn my salary, plus I definitely have more parking experience than he did! Perhaps that’s what I should do, quit my job, find a nice parking spot around Tamarai, and charge people an arm and a leg for parking there, renting a couple of thugs to secure the place wouldn’t be that expensive, even better I can set up a franchise, providing people with a consistent parking experience all over Cairo…I’m quite surprised no body actually did that already…men el akher I’ve had it.
Update
digging around turns out LA times already had an article about "parkers" as they call them standing around city stars.
Last weekend I was parking behind Nile Towers, the place was more or less deserted as most people were spending the weekend out of Cairo, however as I parked, I heard that “khosh ya basha, aywa kedah alah yenawar”, looking around I realized that a 10 years old kid was saying that, standing among a bunch of his friends, I completely ignored him, however later as I was leaving that parking spot, he stood there waiting to collect the parking fee, to this second I have no idea what is he charging me for, he didn’t assist me in parking my car, didn’t wash my car and the street I’m parked in has loads of empty spots, the only thing he did was yelling a couple of meaningless phrases anyway I decided to pay him 3le since I had the change laying there in my car, surprisingly he objected stating that I should pay him “5le ya basha”, I told him hoa kedah, and as I left the parking spot he banged on the trunk of my car. For a second there I felt like I should park and beat the hell out of him, just before realizing the place I’m in and the current state of security in Cairo. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind paying if someone actually helped with parking my car, or even cleaned it for me, However I definitely can’t accept paying for someone yelling at me while parking my car.
Surprisingly this story isn’t that unique or new, this is not even the first time it happens to me, there isn’t a single place in mohandeseen/zamalek you can park in without someone popping out and charging you for parking your own car, the ominous calls “khosh ya basha, aywa ya basha, 7adanha shewaia keda” can be heard everywhere in the streets. It’s even worse than begging, since if you don’t pay your car would be actually at risk. After all the last thing you want is going back to your car to find your tires slashed. A couple of years ago, while parking somewhere in nasr city that happened to me, I objecting to paying the guy and he ended up saying “up to you” in that weird voice, returning 5 minutes later to my car, I found a huge nail coming out of my brand new tire. Of course you can fight with the guy, beat him up even, problem is how many times can you do this, would you do it every day, everywhere you park on every single outing you go on ? not going out at all is easier I think since you won’t have fun anyway.
Again I don’t mind paying someone who’d assist me parking my car, problem is they don’t help, they are just a bunch of opportunistic thugs who sell you the right to park in publically owned street, it actually became acceptable to pay 3le to a guy standing there in the middle of an empty street as you parked your car, even weirder, last summer as I parked in the middle of makeshift parking in the middle of the desert near platform in front of marina, a guy suddenly materialized and he wanted to charge me 5le for parking, I re-parked my car and asked him to let me work with him because he is definitely making more money than I do at work, after all I actually have to work to earn my salary, plus I definitely have more parking experience than he did! Perhaps that’s what I should do, quit my job, find a nice parking spot around Tamarai, and charge people an arm and a leg for parking there, renting a couple of thugs to secure the place wouldn’t be that expensive, even better I can set up a franchise, providing people with a consistent parking experience all over Cairo…I’m quite surprised no body actually did that already…men el akher I’ve had it.
Update
digging around turns out LA times already had an article about "parkers" as they call them standing around city stars.
@ alex we pay them max 2 L.E. Min 30 PT
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